"This novel has a laugh track; Adler's a good storyteller and has an ear for the rhythms of a good joke." -Jewish Journal18-year-old Mickey Fine and 17-year-old Mutzie Feder desperately want to escape their drab lives in 1937 Brooklyn. He wants to be a world-famous comic and she is longing to have the glamorous life she sees embodied by her idol on the silver screen, Jean Harlow. Mickey gets his chance when he is hired to be the resident social director and comedian, otherwise known as a "tumler" at the famed Catskills resort, Gorlicks Greenhouse. Mutzie gets her opportunity when she is chosen to be "the number one girl" of notorious hit-man "Pittsburgh Phil" Strauss or "Pep". That summer, Pep travels with Mutzie, his Murder Incorporated cohorts and their families for an extended holiday at Gorlicks. As the season progresses and Strauss has to leave on weekdays for "business reasons", Mickey and Mutzie begin to fall hard for each other. As their feelings grow, so do Pep's suspicions. They must find a way out before Pep marks them both for death.