Dimensions
129 x 198 x 15mm
In Beg, Borrow, Steal Michael Greenberg regales us with his wry and vivid take on the life of a writer of little means trying to practise his craft or simply stay alive. He finds himself doctoring doomed movie scripts; selling cosmetics from an ironing board in front of a women's department store; writing about golf, a game he has never played; and botching his debut as a waiter in a posh restaurant. Central characters include Michael's father, whose prediction that Michael's 'scribbling' wouldn't get him on the subway almost came true; his artistic first wife, whom he met in a Greenwich Village high school; and their son who grew up on the Lower East Side, fluent in the language of the street. Then there are Greenberg's unexpected encounters: a Holocaust survivor who, on his deathbed, tries to leave Michael his fortune; a repentant communist who confesses his sins; a man who becomes a woman; a Chilean film-maker in search of his past; and rats who behave like humans and cease to live underground. Hilarious and bittersweet, Greenberg's stories invite us into a world where the familial, the literary, the tragic and the mundane not only speak to one another, but deeply enjoy the exchange. '...film, literature, Jewish identity, New York City's rat problem ... and even the politics of transgendered sexuality ... read like anecdotes told among friends, yet at the same time the author creates poignant subtexts involving fundamental human values and emotions like love, desire, honesty and malice' - Kirkus Praise for Hurry Down Sunshine: 'In its detail, depth, richness and sheer intelligence, Hurry Down Sunshine will be recognized as a classic of its kind' - Oliver Sacks, New York Review Of Books 'Restrained yet candid, it's a beautifully written book' - Blake Morrison, Guardian 'Brilliant, taut, entirely original ... I know of no other book about madness whose claim to scientific knowledge is so modest and whose artistic achievement is so great' - Janet Malcolm
