
Yearning for a life of the mind, Ruth Puttermesser finds herself mired in the lowest circles of city bureaucracy. Her love life hopeless, her fantasies more influential than wan reality, she nevertheless turns out to be the best mayor New York City has ever elected. Soon enough, though, paradise gained becomes paradise lost, and--even for a wistful visionary like Puttermesser--the problem of disappointment remains unresolved.
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Born 1928
Cynthia Ozick was born in New York City to Russian-Jewish parents. She received a B.A. from New York University and a M.A. from Ohio State University. She is a 1982 Guggenheim Fellow and received a Mildred and Harold Strauss Living award from the American Academy and Institute of Arts and Letters. She writes about politics, history, and literary criticism. The Holocaust is a recurring theme, and she often writes about life as a Jewish American.
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