Ellington Boulevard
The Story Behind the Book
Publisher Spiegel & Grau/Doubleday, January 2008
When Langer's debut novel Crossing California was published in 2004, Publishers Weekly heralded it as "brilliant" and dozens of other critics followed suit, with the Los Angeles Times calling it "…extraordinary…a rich saga worthy of Philip Roth and Anthony Trollope."
In ELLINGTON BOULEVARD Adam Langer has produced a witty and totally original novel about the ups and downs of life in the wilds of New York's real estate jungle.
Returning home to Manhattan from his mother's funeral in Chicago, unemployed jazz musician Ike Munson enters his apartment with his dog Herbie and finds three strangers in his living room – a slick real estate broker and a young couple ready to overspend to own Ike's home. Furious at this invasion of privacy, he confronts them but, without a lease, he ultimately loses. Ike must begin his journey to find a place to call home in a world he can no longer afford.
The chorus of stories – Ike, his dog, the real estate broker, and the young couple – will thrill the fans of Langer's distinctive ability to bring to life a wildly varied ensemble of characters from different worlds. Written with humor and a healthy dose of satire, ELLINGTON BOULEVARD explores the rippling effects of the sale of one small and suddenly valuable apartment on 106th Street on the lives of his enormously entertaining cast of characters.
See a book trailer for Ellington Boulevard…
"Adam Langer, who is either a genius or a schizophrenic, inhabits his characters—from a pregnant woman to a pigeon—with brilliant stealth and loveable insouciance. Finally a book has come along that has gotten me excited about reading and even New York again."
— Jennifer Belle, author of High Maintenance and Little Stalker
"Adam Langer's wonderful new novel took me on a trip all over the Upper West Side of Manhattan. The reader will meet a cast of unforgettable musicians, actors, and even a dog named Herbie Mann. Open the cover, read, and enjoy! This is his best book yet."
— Eli Wallach
"Langer's new novel, Ellington Boulevard, captures all of Manhattan's quirky insanity with great style and a huge amount of fun."
"I laughed out loud throughout this simultaneously cynical and sentimental New York fairy-tale with a love for off-Broadway musicals and the 17-key clarinet and a profound understanding of the importance of dogs."
— Stephen Schwartz, academy-award winning lyricist and composer for Wicked, Godspell, Pippin, and The Prince of Egypt.
"I loved this book, but then I've always been a sucker for quality. Adam Langer lifts the lid off the top of New York City and lets us see, close up, and terribly personally, the cosmopolitan complexity of the city that never sleeps ­ alone. In his fugue-like charting of their lives, lives that cross, lives that double-cross, he reveals his love of all things New York:­ its people, its dogs, and even more remarkably, its pigeons. The composition and orchestration that Mr. Langer has gifted us with would have delighted the Duke himself."
— Larry Gelbart, Creator of M*A*S*H, co-screenwriter of Tootsie, and Tony-Award winning author of City of Angels and A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To The Forum
Adam Langer
The Salinger Contract
The Thieves of Manhattan
My Father's Bonus March
The Washington Story
Crossing California
Booksense