Eve Ottenberg

Cover of "The Unblemished Darlings"

The Unblemished Darlings

Description of new work

The Unblemished Darlings is a comic novel about the absurdity of much of the human enterprise. It is filled with zany characters, human and animal, some of them with unpronounceable names, all of them, the humans that is, out for a buck. It is also a hilariously improbable romance, with a heroine who is definitely not thin, not rich, more than a little addled and somewhat over-the-hill. But her unlikely suitor loves her, if only he could bring himself to let her know and if only he didn't have so much competition! From the moment the first bird droppings land on Snarkle's head, to the pigeon that tries to steal his dessert, to his beloved's tiny but ferocious dog that attacks him at every opportunity, the entire animal world seems to be conspiring against poor Snarkle; and the humans are not making his romantic pursuit any easier either.

Selected Works

Fiction

The Walkout, A Tale in Three Parts
This tale of a teachers' strike pits beleaguered public workers against an ambitious official and the business model of education.

What They Didn't Know, Stories and Essays
These stories and essays, a number previously published, make for a collection that is various and compelling.

Reluctant Reaper
A comic novel in dialogue about a group of daffy suburbanites and how they get tangled up with each other

Suburbia
A comic novel about a group of well-heeled ninnies who band together in a "not in my backyard" effort.

Dead in Iraq
A novel about the human costs of the Iraq war.

The Unblemished Darlings
A comic novel about a group of bumblers with a get-rich-quick scheme.

The Widow’s Opera
A dark drama about murder and betrayal in New York City in the 1950s.

Glum and Mighty Pagans
A comic novel about real estate in Manhattan.

Authors Guild