The Allergic Boy Versus the Left-Handed Girl - by Michael Kun (Hardcover)

About the Book

When Jimmy Nail reads a bestselling novel, The Left-Handed Girl, he recognizes it immediately. It's The Allergic Boy, a novel he wrote in college before his life went south. Will anyone believe him?

Book Synopsis

When Jimmy Nail finally gets around to reading the phenomenally popular novel The Left-Handed Girl, written by the iconic P.J. Darbin, he recognizes it immediately. It's his own book, the short novel The Allergic Boy, that Jimmy had written back in college, and given to Darbin to read when they were both eager college students. That was before Jimmy dropped out of school. Before Jimmy joined the Army. Before Jimmy suffered a severe head injury that leaves him with screaming headaches and occasional confusion.

But it's his book. He knows it's his, even if no one will believe him. Not his wife. Not Darbin's big-city publisher. Not Darbin's team of lawyers. And not the mean-spirited judge who's assigned to hear Jimmy's lawsuit.

How can Jimmy prove that he's the true author of the hit novel and not just a greedy and addled war veteran with a head injury and a frivolous claim?

When his dusty old notebooks and his own memory convince no one, Jimmy knows that his only hope is to find the red-haired girl he'd been mad about as a teenager, the enigmatic Poppy Fowler.

Or Poppy Fahrenberg.

Or Poppy Fahrenheit.

Whatever her surname, she is Jimmy Nail's one and only hope.

His one and only hope for love.

His one and only hope to establish his sanity.

And his one and only hope to get the credit he deserves. The money, too. He can't forget the money.

But did Poppy even exist, or was she just the creation of Jimmy's sad and troubled mind?

Jimmy has lost everything. He's lost his wife and his daughter. He's lost his parents. He's lost his savings. What he hasn't lost is his love for a red-haired girl who may have been the basis for a novel that has made someone else world-famous and awfully rich.

In this unique and inventive novel, Michael Kun explores the nature of truth, the imperfection of memory, and the very idea of love. As Jimmy Nail learns that he must love whom he loves, regardless of appearance and even gender, Kun infuses Jimmy's quest with humor and emotional depth.

Review Quotes

Praise for Michael Kun

"I've always been a fan of Michael Kun's writing, and his inventive, hilarious new novel provides the perfect escape." -Sarah Pekkanen, bestselling co-author of The Wife Between Us

"A writer in the vein of J.D. Salinger." -The Richmond Times-Dispatch

"Once readers sample Kun's hilariously off-kilter world view, they're frequently hooked for life." -The Baltimore Sun

"This novel deserves serious attention as the herald of a truly interesting new voice." -Publishers Weekly

"[This] is the work of a careful, attentive young apprentice apply himself to his craft; it is a solid achievement." -The Chicago Tribune

"Lawyers are a dime a dozen, but young writers like this are rare." -The San Antonio Express-News

"Kun writes with deceptive ease .... He takes us where we want to go." -The Fort Lauderdale Sun-Sentinel

"This is an exceptional first novel that a Hollywood mogul would be wise to read." -The Pittsburgh Press

"The novel retains a bittersweet integrity that elevates it." - Entertainment Weekly

"Imaginatively written, cleverly constructed . . . [Kun] brings it all home with compassion and wit. A job well done." -Baltimore

"Kun entertains some fairly profound questions in this deft and zany little novel." -Entertainment Weekly

"It's the Great American Dilemma in novel form." -The Los Angeles Times

"Kun is quite the jokester, and he's an adventuresome writer." -The Seattle Times

"Kun is an excellent storyteller, and his book finds a way to bring levity to lies, infidelity, and murder." -Albuquerque Journal

"Kun is one of our favorite writers ...." -Indianapolis Men's Monthly