{"id":993,"date":"2023-05-07T22:28:49","date_gmt":"2023-05-08T02:28:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/?page_id=993"},"modified":"2025-12-30T00:51:06","modified_gmt":"2025-12-30T05:51:06","slug":"a-bit-about-each-book","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/?page_id=993","title":{"rendered":"A bit about each book\u00a0"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Click on any cover to read more.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"\"<\/a>Futura<\/em><\/h4>\n
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America, 2045. An authoritarian president is starting his third term, and teenagers in a New Jersey shore town skirt the new laws recklessly\u2014but their freedom is in jeopardy. Comedy, tragedy, and political satire blend in Futura<\/em>. Read it for the story, or to see how much of this dark future has already arrived..<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a>The Word-Lover’s Lexicon<\/em><\/h4>\n
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Do you love words, especially obscure ones? Do you enjoy witty and elegant quotations from literature and recent journalism? Are you a fan of mischievous jokes? Take a peek at The Word-Lover\u2019s Lexicon<\/em>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Eulogy<\/em><\/h4>\n
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A short novel about a man coming to terms with his late father\u2019s secrets. Quiet and poignant\u2014featuring three generations of fathers and sons, and some recognizable Jewish relatives.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

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\"\"<\/a>My Impending Death<\/em><\/h4>\n
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If dark comedy is to your taste, you may enjoy this novel about a man who plans to end his life, but gets interrupted by a neighbor in need. (Note: The plot is eerily similar to that of A Man Called Ove<\/em>, an international bestseller that appeared in English shortly before my book. Here\u2019s an essay<\/a> about that startling coincidence.)<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Hidden Away<\/em><\/h4>\n

A smart, cynical teenager disappears from his suburban home on the morning of the SAT. The mystery deepens as we return to the start of the school year and see the many ways he put himself at risk. Will he survive this nightmare. Don\u2019t you want to find out?<\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Dark & Light<\/em><\/h4>\n
What If\u2026 a lonely middle-aged white man offered shelter to an appealing young black woman, temporarily homeless? Cultures clash; intimacy grows despite their differences. But it never gets easy.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>Old Buddy Old Pal<\/em><\/h4>\n
A friendship between two men in their twenties, from the sidekick\u2019s point of view\u2014along with romantic turmoil, as the married friend pursues his lost college love and the protagonist gets together with his old pal\u2019s abandoned wife.<\/div>\n
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For younger readers (and adults who enjoy such books)<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>The Watermelon<\/em><\/h4>\n
Romance, prejudice, war: a teenage girl travels to South America with a group of volunteers, falls in love with the group\u2019s local leader, and resists the bigotry that surrounds her as a war with the neighboring country approaches.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>Cheater<\/em><\/h4>\n
A farcical comedy about high-tech cheating in high school, with the structure of Oliver Twist<\/em>: a smart, well-meaning kid gets sucked into a ring of charming rule-breakers, and has a hard time getting out. Lots of jokes.<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>6-321<\/em><\/h4>\n
The dramas of my elementary-school years, compressed into a fictionalized sixth grade: parents\u2019 divorce, a monumental crush, and a feud with another class. This one has been especially meaningful to adolescent readers.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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\"\"<\/a>The Rain<\/em><\/h4>\n
A picture book, almost a lullaby. Best for quiet moments with children. The rain falls peacefully, beautifully, in different places; people respond to it in their own ways.<\/div>\n
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For everyone<\/div>\n

\"\"<\/a>Children\u2019s Rules for Parents<\/em><\/h4>\n
Circa 1985: teachers assigned the topic to their students and sent us the results. Some of the entries are hilarious; some are touching; some are heartbreaking.<\/div>\n
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For college writing instructors, mainly<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\"The<\/a>The College Writing Clinic<\/em><\/h4>\n
If you\u2019ve ever taught expository writing, you know how hard it is to help students learn to craft graceful sentences. By combining ideas from different sources, I put together a method that achieved encouraging results. Borrow as much as you like\u2014including the lesson plans and handouts.<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
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Click on any cover to read more. Futura America, 2045. An authoritarian president is starting his third term, and teenagers in a New Jersey shore town skirt the new laws recklessly\u2014but their freedom is in jeopardy. Comedy, tragedy, and political satire blend in Futura. Read it for the story, or to see how much of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"class_list":{"0":"post-993","1":"page","2":"type-page","3":"status-publish","5":"entry","6":"has-post-thumbnail"},"featured_image_src":null,"featured_image_src_square":null,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/993","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=993"}],"version-history":[{"count":26,"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/993\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1091,"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/pages\/993\/revisions\/1091"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/michaellaser.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=993"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}