Heroic Measures

New York City is on high alert-a gasoline truck is "stuck" in the Midtown tunnel and the driver has fled. Through panic and gridlock, Alex and Ruth must transport their beloved old dachshund-whose back legs are suddenly paralyzed-to the animal hospital, using a cutting board as a stretcher. But this is also the weekend when Alex and Ruth must sell the apartment in which they have lived for most of their adult lives. Over the course of forty-eight hours, as the mystery of the missing truck driver terrorizes the city and the dachshundrs"s life hangs in the balance, the bidding war over their apartment becomes a barometer for collective hope and despair. Told in shifting points of view-Alexrs"s, Ruthrs"s, and the little dogrs"s-Heroic Measuresis a moving, deft novel about urban anxiety and the love that deepens over years.

JILL CIMENT was born in Montreal, Canada. She is the author of three novels, The Tattoo Artist, Teeth of the Dog, and The Law of Falling Bodies; a collection of short stories, Small Claims; and a memoir, Half a Life. Ciment is a professor of English at the University of Florida. She lives in Gainesville, Florida.


From the Hardcover edition.