All of the Night: Novel No. 3 An Albert Nostran Episode

Landing a job at an international press agency in Washington has enabled the young Albert Nostran to flee his manic father and the existential boredom that sets in the northeastern provinces as the year draws to a close, but stability and the ideal (or semi-ideal or even semi-semi-ideal) woman are goals that remain frustratingly out of reach. His heart sinks when the charming Jillian informs him that she lives in Richmond, only two and a half hours away. Only. The graveyard shift and a strange roommate do little to add lead to the old pencil. He feels a big news event would improve matters, but when it does, it is his worst nightmare: John Lennon Is Shot Dead in NYC. Not sufficiently trained, somewhat more literary than journalistic, his dispatches fail to elicit unadulterated praise. A ray of hope materializes in the presence of a young woman who happens to be none other than the boss's daughter. The romance sputters, and Nostran is fired. A series of less-than-inspiring/resume-unfit jobs ensue until the son of a friend of his father's turns him on to the notion of freelancing. A more accommodating lass provides him with an opportunity to write about a local sculpture exhibit . . . In All of the Night, we empathize with a young man left to his own demons, attempting to assert himself in the world of full-blown adults he is yet to feel totally comfortable with. Like the critically acclaimed The Big Jiggety and Pop the Plug (check Amazon), All of the Night is laced with a compelling blend of humor and pathos, underscored by Nostran's piquant, sometimes profound, never-boring commentary and a panoply of colorful characters giving the protagonist reason to push ahead even though the deck is not entirely stacked in his favor.