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Books by
Leslie Schnur

LATE NIGHT TALKING

THE DOG WALKER

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THE DOG WALKER

LATE NIGHT TALKING
Leslie Schnur
Washington Square Press
Fiction
Hardcover: 0743288246
Paperback: 9780743288248

• Read an Excerpt

Jeannie Sterling is the proud host of her own late-night radio talk show, "Sterling Behavior." She is on the air in the early morning hours, blasting rude and inconsiderate people and their behavior. Be it throwing wads of gum on the street, not scooping up doggie poop, or throwing trash on the side of the road, Jeannie believes it's her job to point these faults out to the world in order to help make her section of New York a better place to live.

Jeannie encounters business tycoon Nicholas Moss on the street early one morning as he's driving his friend's SUV while talking on a cell phone, one of Jeannie's many pet peeves. When his vehicle stops for a moment, she has an unforgettable encounter with him. Moss later hears about this very incident on the radio, retold by Jeannie on her show, as she gives a piece of her own mind to the man who drove the Hummer while chatting away on his cell.

Little does Jeannie know the huge impression she left on Moss or that he wants to take revenge by buying out the radio station. He hopes to put a little fear in her life for a while, but he also can't stop thinking about her; although she annoyed him, he feels a deep attraction for her.

The radio show eventually goes live on the street, and then Moss decides it's time for "Sterling Behavior" to transition to television. He predicts great things for Jeannie, if only she pushes it a bit more. Jeannie does, and now she can't seem to stop her near-vigilante attempts at fixing the world, seeing only one thing: her vision of how to make the world right.

While Jeannie's career takes off flying, her relationships change for the worse. Best friend Luce, the producer of her radio show, is keeping a secret from Jeannie --- and when Jeannie finds out, she feels hurt, not understanding why Luce felt the need to keep such big news from her. Jeannie also has begun dating her longtime best friend, Tommy, about whom Luce has had a few doubts. Jeannie doesn't notice these negative qualities in Tommy, and is almost angry with Luce for thinking them. Then there is Jeannie's absent father, who makes a reappearance in her life along with a mutt named "Mouse." It's through these relationships that one can almost gauge where Jeannie's personal life is going, as it takes her a while to learn who the most important people in her life are and who she can do without.

Although she is afraid to admit it, the most important person right now is Moss. A man who came along and almost ruined her radio career by buying out the station, he actually is someone who is more in tune with her than Tommy ever will be.

LATE NIGHT TALKING is interspersed with dialogue from Jeannie's shows, and through the exchanges between Jeannie and Luce, we get to see what the program and Jeannie herself are all about. The more I got to know her, however, the less I liked her. And I think this was author Leslie Schnur's intention. I started to get irritated by Jeannie's holier-than-thou attitude and her need to point out everyone's faults and errors, no matter how minute. Those around her eventually find her behavior on the show appalling. Jeannie, we learn, is a very self-centered person. While she appears to love her friends, there is something missing in her personality that prevents her from really caring about them for who they are.

Any book that makes me feel as angry as I did at a fictional character has to be good. There were moments when I wanted to admire Jeannie for taking a stance on issues and topics that bother the average person. Unfortunately, though, most of the time she is living with blinders on, too full of her self-importance and her need to fix the world. While she did redeem herself in the end, her transformation from a self-centered, driven woman to a compassionate individual happened much too quickly for me to believe. Nevertheless, the story is well-written and I will certainly take a look at Schnur's debut novel, THE DOG WALKER.

--- Reviewed by Marie Hashima Lofton (Ratmammy@lofton.org)

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