Stupid and Contagious

by Caprice Crane

Overview

In this hilarious, romantic comedy, two twenty-something neighbors embark on a zany mission to meet the founder of Starbucks, and in doing so, find each other.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780446695725
Publisher:	Grand Central Publishing
Publication date:	05/12/2006
Pages:	336
Sales rank:	704,281
Product dimensions:	5.25(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.81(d)

About the Author

Caprice Crane is an award-winning, internationally bestselling, five-time novelist, screenwriter, and television writer, and has the distinction of being one of Huffington Post's "50 Funny People You Should Be Following on Twitter." Her debut novel Stupid and Contagious (published in fourteen countries), and her international bestselling Forget About It won the RT Reviews Choice Award in 2006 and 2007 consecutively. She has since published three more novels to critical acclaim.

Editorial Reviews

This funny duet pairs two New York City 20-something neighbors: Heaven Albright, whose reversal in fortunes transforms her from uber-PR exec to bumbling waitress, and Brady Gilbert, an aspiring music producer with problems navigating the bright lights of the big city. The story of their personal and professional travails unfolds in alternating chapters, appealingly narrated by zany Heaven and wry Brady. The two meet-cute downstairs at the deli, and even if the novel's arc is familiar (it's instantly obvious that Heaven and Brady's initial distaste for each other can never last), Crane's giddy, playful prose feels fresh. When Heaven inevitably gets fired from the restaurant, she joins Brady on a trip to Seattle, where he hopes for a face-to-face meeting with Starbucks founder Howard Schultz to pitch him an idea for Cinnamilk (the flavor left after you've eaten cinnamon cereal). The adventures that play out from New York to Seattle as the two pursue their idealistic dreams prove so much fun that a touch of predictability hardly matters. TV writer Crane heavily spices her debut with pop culture references from the '80s to the present day and keeps the story moving with snappy dialogue, a combo likely to entertain legions of (gum-popping) readers. (May 12) Copyright 2006 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

Two 20-something New Yorkers squabble and flirt their way across the country. A laid back, music-obsessed dreamer in the Nick Hornby mold, struggling indie-rock producer Brady Gilbert is reasonably sure, after losing his rent-controlled apartment in a breakup, that a girlfriend is the last thing he needs. Still, he is intrigued when he moves in next door to Heaven Albright. Lissome, quirky and frequently obnoxious, Heaven pops into Brady's apartment unannounced, opens his mail and generally finds ways to both fascinate and annoy him. A former PR flack and woefully inept waitress, Heaven is tossed from the hipster Asian restaurant where she works after one of her jokes goes too far. With time on her hands, she cheerfully oversteps all of Brady's boundaries and insists on accompanying her new neighbor on a trip to Los Angeles, where he intends to check out and sign a talented high-school rock band. In L.A., Heaven crosses paths with her ex, a smarmy A&R rep for a big record company interested in the same band as Brady. After Heaven spends the night with his rival, Brady cannot decide what is worse, losing his band, or losing Heaven. The not-quite couple then stop in Seattle, where Brady hopes to present his improbable but inspired entrepreneurial idea-Cinnamilk-to Starbucks mastermind Howard Schultz. Good intentions, combined with poor judgment, result in the two getting arrested outside a vigil commemorating the death of Kurt Cobain. With a title taken from a Nirvana song and Brady's fixation with obscure bands and even more obscure snack foods, Crane's basic boy-meets-girl story is at times a bit too enamored of its own caffeine-fueled pop-culture cred. Crane's witty romantic comedy debutwill be best appreciated by those raised on a steady diet of MTV.

Kirkus Reviews