Enjoy a "smart" and "hilarious" comic epic...
Leaps of Faith
A Novel by Rachel Kranz
Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2000
Enjoy a "smart" and "hilarious" comic epic...
Leaps of Faith
A Novel by Rachel Kranz
Farrar, Straus & Giroux 2000
Enjoy the novel that's been praised by. . .
. . .Washington Post:
"...an unusual first offering, both in form and content...Rosie's ideal of universal empathy is refreshing in an American novel, a genre usually so wrapped up in the cult of the individual...It's also a pleasure to read fiction with a conscience about institutionalized racism and gay civil rights."
. . . The San Francisco Bay Guardian:
"...a novel of surpassing excellence...Leaps of Faith is an extraordinary novel, funny, heart-wrenching, filled with vital and memorable characters whose fictional lives enrich our own."
. . .Orlando Sentinel:
"...Intimate thoughts of dozens of characters are revealed through effective first-person and shifting perspectives...The effect is downright Robert Altmanesque."
. . . International Gay and Lesbian Review:
"...Finally! The great read of the season has arrived. Rachel Kranz has fashioned a clever comedy of manners set in contemporary New York City that is by turns hilarious, moving and sexy...a real page-turner that manages to accomplish that rarest of literary feats: a novel that is light enough to keep one pleasantly entertained for more than 500 pages and simultaneously deep enough to make it worth your intellectual while...Highly recommended!"
. . . The Times-Picayune:
"It's been a long time since I've come across a novel so filled with life and humor as Leaps of Faith, a sort of Tales of the City, Big Apple-style...Kranz’s true gift is to leave us hoping and thinking about how we, too, might make the best of our choices."
. . . The Cleveland Plain-Dealer:
"The last time I read a book that made me feel this way was Snow Falling on Cedars....There is no doubt that Kranz is a talented writer with a broad vision."
. . . Booklist:
"...Kranz's complex comedy of manners offers unique and provocative insights...quirky and impassioned characters...intriguing political viewpoints...a deeply satisfying reading experience."
. . .Library Journal:
"The author is adept at creating smart and sometimes hilarious dialogue: by the end of the novel, these people seem like family."
. . . Kirkus Review:
"The relationship between mercurial Flip and easygoing Warren is as amusing as it is touching (both are extremely likeable characters)...very funny indeed."
Meet...
. . . Flip, a gay actor:
"I've always wanted to be Peter O'Toole. My sister Rosie says that really means I want to sleep with Peter O'Toole, and she may be right, not that I think Peter O'Toole would ever actually sleep with me."
. . . Warren, a socially conservative psychic:
"I'll tell you the truth. The worst thing about being a psychic is having to know so much."
. . . Rosie, a union organizer and all-round agitator:
"The meeting breaks up. Charles actually turns to me and holds out his hand. 'Welcome to Olympia, Rosie,' he says. 'How can you welcome me, you idiot?' I want to shout. 'I was here before you were!'"
. . . Tanya, an African-American actress:
"The saleswoman says, 'Oh, my God. I saw you on Tales of Valentine Beach. You were great!'" "You must really be a fan," I say, embarrassed. "Being as that was only like five minutes per episode." Not the way I expected to feel, the first time I was recognized. Not like I expected to be in my underwear, either."
A note from the author:
Leaps of Faith comes right out of my own
experience as a theater director, a rank-and-file union organizer, and a temp secretary, I wanted to
write about love, but I didn't want to write a traditional love story. I wanted to write about politics and
collective action, to show how sexy, uplifting, maddening, painful, and magical they could be. I
wanted to write about people who don't usually get to take center stage—gay men in love, an
African-American actress, a union organizer and her feisty group of clerical workers. And I wanted to
write a story about the way we live now: watching TV, going shopping, going to the gym, trying
to make the most of our jobs and our families and our all-too-overloaded private lives.
Leaps of Faith is the result, a novel about how, if you're willing to take a leap of faith, you
could end up in a terrifying, and wonderful, new place. Readers have told me that this is a book they
can't put down, and one that they keep thinking about long after they've read it.
They've also told me that they see themselves and the people they know on every page. And they've
paid me the highest compliment of all, they've told me that they find themselves muttering, or even
shouting advice to the characters.
If you do read Leaps of Faith, I'd love to hear from you.
E-mail me through my literary agent at:
...and tell me what you think! This is a novel of many voices, I'd love to hear yours.
Best wishes, Rachel Kranz