Richard Segal

Three acquaintances gather at a former classmate's apartment to fulfil a long-determined promise to create and produce the Great American Dark Comedy, with a mix of reverence for the system which nurtured them, but irreverence for those who game it without shame, leaving as prerequisites naming and taming. However, life becomes unsettled upon the discovery of a grey conspiracy theory promoted by an unrepentant website editor, and the rediscovery of a set of blue folders which beholds the source of underwriting for this shady and underhanded campaign. In addition, worlds are rocked when another friend experiences three life events in short succession, including the death of a girlfriend and loss of a job, not long after he's weaned himself off anti-depressants and concomitant addiction to sugar highs. If truth is stranger than fiction, then what is stranger than truth? The Escape Key is a book that could only have been written during 2020.

What happens if a Saturday afternoon begins like Thomas Hardy and ends like the evening of Silly Talks, with Erich Segal in between? A chance meeting on the street leads to a quick drink and then another with spouses, partners and fast friends, fervent discussions about topics of the day and life in the sharing economy, the wisdom of domestics with magic sponges and monogrammed brooms, working the circadian rhythms. Debates are fueled by charcuterie boards and addictive heirlooms, with Saturday supplements, satirical magazines, and cameo walk-bys as props. Meanwhile on a separate track, where theres smoke, theres fire, but if a countrys leadershipmake that two countriesis going to play with said fire, wouldnt it make sense to take out some insurance beforehand? Who says madness takes its toll, and say what you want about Nero and his fiddle, but at least he could play. Too much to take in by the end of the evening? Not to worry, if you need a taxi, call the Maxi.