Last Time Around

<p>Giving a nod to The Decameron and The Divine Comedy Last Time Around moves through three sections or books as the four central characters travel from German beer garden to Brooklyn music venue to Polish diner. Along the way the characters eulogize and disparage former acquaintances lovers and total strangers in an attempt to mask and skirt around the tender spots in their own lives.</p><p><br></p><p>The book's narrator Ian is himself going through a significant period of change when the novel opens. He is starting a new job moving apartments and attempting to get over his ex-girlfriend Olivia. Introspective by nature he grasps the night's significance when he realizes his friends are also moving in their own directions.</p><p><br></p><p>Hovering on the periphery of the evening is Nick Amante Ian's undergraduate nemesis from Yale-a vague stalker-like person and double for Ian. Amante is a young writer whose most recent book Inferno has earned minor recognition. Even while Ian dismisses Amante as a hack (quoting liberally from Inferno's most purple passages) it becomes clear that Amante has a guide-like role to play in Ian's life. The night ends in a room full of fake mariachis where Ian finally connects with Amante and Olivia and receives the inspiration to write his own story. </p>