Alice in Bed

"A buoyant first novel . . . a mixture of tragedy and troubled laughter" from the New York Times–bestselling author of Künstlers in Paradise (Newsweek).

Stricken by a mysterious malady, college sophomore Alice Brody has suddenly lost the use of her legs. How does a bright, beautiful, and now immobile young woman proceed with her passions? As she convalesces in a Manhattan hospital, Alice finds herself attended by a motley group of visitors: indifferent nurses, doctors both good and bad, divorcing parents, and eccentric relatives. But Alice is a creature of many charms, whose wit can enchant those bearing even the worst bedside manner. With a captivating heroine of great comic depth, Cathleen Schine's Alice in Bed is balm for whatever ails you.

"Alice in Bed is so exceptionally funny and beguiling." —The Philadelphia Inquirer

"A fluent writer . . . an engaging voice . . . We go on reading briskly because we want to know Alice better." —Michiko Kakutani, The New York Times

"Beneath its gossamer-light prose, Alice in Bed is a saga of the body . . . a portrait of une femme sensuelle moyenne." —John Updike, The New Yorker

"A perfect book . . . Highly successful . . . vibrant . . . witty . . . pleasurable . . . very funny . . . Cathleen Schine shows storytelling mastery beyond what one expects to find in a first novel." —Los Angeles Herald Examiner