At twenty, Alix Kates Shulman wrenched herself from her middle-class family and staked a claim to a fierce independence. Through her bestselling writings she has chronicled what it means to defy the expectations of family and society in order to map one's own life. Now, in this unflinching but tender memoir, she explores what it means to do what is expected of a daughter -- discovering in the process the unexpected, complicated joys of going home.

Koning, Hans

The Last Laugh is, as its title suggests, the very last of S. J. Perelman's twenty books. It contains seventeen pieces never before collected, in addition to the opening chapters of the author's uncompleted autobiography, The Hindsight Saga. The Last Laugh shows the master humorist at his very best, displaying his incomparable gift for ridicule, dazzling verbal effects, polished style, and keen observation. (6 X 9, 192 pages)