John Blumenthal

Three and a Half Virgins John Blumenthal

"Hilarious" "Unexpectedly touching." "A delight." "Poignant." "A gem"

John Blumenthal's novels have received acclaim from publications as diverse as The Wall Street Journal, the Denver Post, the Kindle Book Review and the Cincinnati Enquirer. Some have compared his novels to those of Kurt Vonnegut, John Irving and Nick Hornby, praising his insightful takes on contemporary life and love, his hilariously descriptive language, his Woody Allen-like dialogue and the poignancy of his plots. Now, in "Three and a Half Virgins," the author of "What's Wrong With Dorfman" and "Millard Fillmore, Mon Amour," turns his jaundiced eye to the subjects of lost love, nostalgia, redemption and guilt.

It all begins when the wife of our hapless hero (problematically named Jimmy Hendricks) leaves him for the guy who lives in the cul-de-sac at the end of his block. After a mostly unsuccessful but comical attempt at dating, he finds himself revisiting his past. Engulfed by nostalgia, he's suddenly gripped by pleasant memories and sexual fantasies of three old flames -- Laura, Samantha and Molly -- all of whom happened to have been virgins when he first met each of them twenty years before.

But the warm refuge of the past soon gives way to icy reality as he confronts the sobering details of how maliciously he tricked, seduced and broke each of their hearts. Overcome by remorse and tantalized by curiosity, he finds a way to reshape his past by apologizing to each of them for his heartless behavior.

How will they react? Which, if any of the virgins will our hero end up with after his quest? The answer will surprise you, as "Three and a Half Virgins" transports readers back and forth through time, and ultimately suggests that the past is not necessarily prologue.