Warren Adler Reads from FUNNY BOYS at the Brooklyn Book Festival on September 14

The Brooklyn Book Festival is back this year, and so is Overlook! All are cordially invited to stop by the Overlook booth to see our new releases for the Fall season and meet a few of our most charming staff members. The festival takes places this Sunday, September 14 at Brooklyn Borough Hall Plaza. And don't miss our very own Warren Adler, who takes the stage at 4pm on the North Stage to read from his novel Funny Boys, where the thugs of Murder, Inc. move between Brooklyn and the Borscht Belt, back in the day.

Warren Adler's FUNNY BOYS Featured in Kaatskill Life Magazine

Warren Adler's Funny Boys gets a rave review in - where else - Kaatskill Life: A Magzine for Kaatskill Living. In a full-page essay in the Summer issue, John Rowen describes Funny Boys as a "fast-paced novel about gangsters, comedy, and romance. . . Adler's writing is visual and vivid and he excels in dialogue, confident narration, a strong pace, and carefully drawn descriptions. He immerses you in the action, whether it is a gangster meeting on a city street corner or a dinner show in a resort dining room."

Novelist Warren Adler Comes Home Again with FUNNY BOYS

In a recent article in the Jewish Journal, Dr. Morton Teicher reviews Warren Adler's new novel Funny Boys: "The tumler, to follow Adler's usage, is a comic, singer, clown, actor, jokester, master of ceremonies, noise-maker, prankster, fun-generator, and over-all buffoon. Many of those who filled these roles in the Catskills went on to great fame – Danny Kaye, Sid Caesar, Joey Bishop, Buddy Hackett, Milton Berle, Jerry Lewis, Red Buttons, and Jackie Mason, to name just a few. Adler's tumler is Mickey Fine, a young man who is an aspiring comedian. He works in his father's ladies underwear store in Brooklyn and attends CCNY at night. For several summers, he has been a bus boy, a waiter and a "substitute tumler." As the story opens in the 1930s, he is hired to work as the tumler at Gorlick's Greenhouse, a Catskill Mountains resort near Fallsburg, which has a special clientele of Jewish and Italian gangsters who come for the weekends. During the week, their wives, children, and girl friends are in the hotel. The reality base for the story is reflected in the authentic names of these mobsters – Kid Twist Reles, Albert Anastasia, Pittsburg Phil Strauss, Louis Lepke (Buchalter), Bugsy Goldstein, and Frank Costello, among others. In any case, the fast-paced story holds the reader's interest as it inevitably reaches a happy ending. Author Warren Adler has written five collections of short stories and more than 25 novels, including The War of the Roses, which was made into a popular movie for which he wrote the screenplay. He grew up in Brooklyn so that he is familiar with the setting for part of his story. After graduating from New York University, he worked for several newspapers. He served in the army during the Korean War, stationed in Washington DC where he remained when he was discharged. He ran an advertising and public relations agency, owned radio and TV stations, and started a magazine. Since 1974 when his first novel was published, he has devoted himself full time to writing. He lived in Hollywood for many years, finally coming back to New York "from a forty-odd year exile in other parts of America." Referring to Thomas Wolfe's last book, You Can't Go Home Again, Adler refutes "the wisdom of this great title of the novel by Thomas Wolfe, the fabulous and favorite writer of my youth. Few read him now, although my guess is that one day he will have his long overdue revival." Adler has returned home to New York "And here I am. Home again." One consequence of his being back in New York is this latest novel which will make readers glad that Adler has come home again."

Warren Adler and Fiona Walsh at Barnes & Noble Lincoln Triangle on April 18

Warren Adler, author of The War of the Roses, will be speaking at Barnes & Noble (Lincoln Triangle) in New York City on Friday, April 18th at 7.30pm on his new novel Funny Boys. The story, which takes place in 1937, the heyday of Borscht Belt, is about a budding comedian in the Catskills whose clientele consists of members of the notorious Murder Inc. gang. Mr. Adler will talk about his book and the impact of Jewish humor and its entry into modern mainstream comedy. . . Joining him in his talk will be the winner of the People’s Choice Award in the second annual Warren Adler Short Story Contest, a delightful young standup comedian from Ireland, Fiona Walsh, who has just completed a gig in a contemporary Catskill resort.

Warren Adler's FUNNY BOYS Celebrated at Friars Club

Warren Adler and a host of funny Friars were at New York's famed Friars Club tonight for the official "book warming" of Funny Boys. Adler's new novel is a sweeping American tale of love and crime set in the colorful Borsht Belt of the 1930s Catskills. Known all over the world for The War of the Roses and Random Hearts, Adler is celebrating the publication of his 30th book! If you weren't there, I guess the next best thing WOULD BE TO SEE THE video!

Warren Adler on AMBITION in The Wall Street Journal

Novelist Warren Adler selects his five favorite tales of ambition in today's Wall Street Journal Weekend Journal. The bestselling author of The War of the Roses and Random Hearts has a collection of short stories, New York Echoes, in stores now, and a novel, Funny Boys, coming later this month.

FUNNY BOYS Author Warren Adler at KGB Bar's Sunday Night Fiction Series on March 16

The New York literary landmark KGB Bar, will host Warren Adler, author of Funny Boys, and Nina Siegal, at this Sunday's Fiction Series, March 16, 7-9pm. Warren Adler is the author of 30 books, including 5 collections of short stories and 25 novels. He is known worldwide for his classic tale of battling spouses, The War of the Roses. His new novel, Funny Boys, will be published on March 26.

FUNNY BOYS at NYC's Telephone Bar on Monday, February 25, 8pm

Warren Adler, author of Funny Boys, will be joined by comedians David Goldman and Tom McCaffrey for "An Evening of Funny Men" at the Telephone Bar & Grill on Monday, February 25, at 8pm. Funny Boys, Adler's 30th novel, re-creates the color, humor, excitement and authenticity of the Catskill Mountain resort era, and is a marvelous salute to the Jewish humor of the Borscht Belt. The event will be held in The Library Lounge at the Telephone Bar, 149 2nd Avenue @ 9th Street in Manhattan. There's no cover charge, and copies of Funny Boys will be available for purchase.

Overlook Preview: Warren Adler's FUNNY BOYS

Warren Adler, author of The War of the Roses, Random Hearts, The Sunset Gang, and many other bestselling novels, takes on the New York of his childhood in Funny Boys, coming next month from Overlook. In this darkly funny comedy of errors about success, the mob, and finding true love, Warren Adler's memorable story of a young comedian (tumler) in the Borscht Belt era is a sweeping American tale. For a sneak preview of Funny Boys, pick up a copy of Adler's short story collection New York Echoes, or visit the author's website.

The Warren Adler Short Story

Enter the Warren Adler Short Story Contest! Check the rules and specifics here.

Born-and-bred, out-of-towner, tourist for a day, or just longing and dreaming to visit, you’ve got a story about New York, some moment or snapshot you feel evokes this mad, exciting city and the fascinating people at its core.

Maybe you’ve already written it and have it buried deep in your desk drawer or in the bowels of your hard drive. Or maybe it’s still bouncing around your head, waiting for that chance bolt to strike you.

Try telling it in no more than 2,500 words and you might share it with the world.

Overlook in the Future: FUNNY BOYS by Warren Adler

Warren Adler will be publishing a new novel with The Overlook Press next year: FUNNY BOYS. The legendary author of THE WAR OF THE ROSES brings the Catskills to life with not just laughs but also mafia bullets. Plus: no two drink minimum. We're all thrilled and eagerly looking forward to seeing this book to press. To whet your appetites, check out an early version of the cover above. Stay tuned for more. And take my wife, please.