Eve Ottenberg

Cover of "The Walkout"

The Walkout, A Tale in Three Parts

The new schools superintendent of a large East Coast city has big plans for education -- plans that involve firing legions of teachers. Thus begins The Walkout, a tale told from the perspectives of several different participants. There is intrigue, blackmail, treachery, skullduggery -- all set against the backdrop of a mass protest, as the teachers battle to save their jobs and education for their students. But the new superintendent, they learn, cares little for either; he has outsized plans and even more outsized ambitions, which set in motion all kinds of trouble. The struggle between blind ambition and decency, wild careerism and modest goals makes The Walkout not just a tale in three parts, but also a parable of our times.

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