Synopses & Reviews
Meet Martin Dorfman: cynic, hypochondriac, and burned-out screenwriter. In the midst of navigating his latest film script through Hollywood Development Hell--an agonizing journey even for a healthy person-- the forty-year-old Dorfman wakes up one morning with a mysterious disease. After a battery of medical tests, his doctors conclude that he is in perfect health, but Dorfman is convinced he is dying and sets out on an odyssey to find a diagnosis.
Heralded by the Wall Street Journal as "a funny and surprisingly moving story written at the intersection of shtick and angst," What's Wrong With Dorfman? follows Dorfman into the lunatic fringes of alternative medicine, where he encounters his innermost demons, as well as the beguiling Delilah Foster, a fellow hypochondriac. Will Dorfman find a cure? Will his movie get made? Will he run away with Delilah Foster? And most importantly, what indeed is wrong with Dorfman?
More than just the plight of one man, What's Wrong with Dorfman? reflects the angst of modern society and asks the question "Aren't we all a little nuts?
Review
"A funny and surprisingly moving story written at the intersection of shtick an angst." Wall Street Journal
Review
"Frequently hilarious and unexpectedly touching. Smart, funny characters who
actually sound smart and funny. A poignant and finely crafted exploration of
the legacies and burdens passed down from parents to children."
Publishers Weekly
Review
"The style is a mervelous succession of deadpan one-liners, quick and
funny. Blumenthal demonstrates brilliant ability at orchestrating many
elements. Minor characters are vicid and the author's wit, along with his many
other virtues, creates a lively, entertaining and discreetly instructive
novel."
The Compulsive Reader
Synopsis
A quirky, funny novel about a modern hypochondriac's search for a cure and his travels throughout modern angst.
About the Author
John Blumenthal's humorous essays have appeared in such publications as
Playboy and
Punch. In addition to several novels and nonfiction books, he has also written for the movies and television. He lives in Southern California with his family and is at work on a new novel.