Walking the Dog

"Whimsy and depression have rarely been so purely and movingly juxtaposed . . . sometimes humorous, often harrowing, always compassionate."Ellemagazine on My Depression

Former child prodigy and rich-girl kleptomaniac, Esterrenamed into the gentile Carleen for her own protectionis incarcerated after a botched heist. For two decades, time is the enemy. Her twenties and thirties crawl by in stifling isolation. When finally let loose onto the streets of New York, she finds a job wrestling spoiled canines as a dog walker in Manhattan's most elite neighborhoods, relating better with their brutish instincts than with their human owners. Determined to also prove herself a real person, Carleen tries to reconnect with her estranged and ferociously Orthodox daughter.

Amid the strained brunch dates, unsent letters, and the continuing trauma of prison, Carleen begins a slow and halting process of self-discovery. Strikingly funny and self aware, this belated coming-of-age novel asks the question: How do you restart after crashing your first chance at life?

Perhaps best known for her Broadway and international smash hit Runaways,Elizabeth Swados has composed, written, and directed for over thirty years. She has also published novels, non-fiction books, and children's books to great acclaim and received the Ken Award as well as a New York Public Library Award for her book My Depression: A Picture Book (Seven Stories Press, 2015), which was adapted into an HBO documentary starring Sigourney Weaver and Fred Armisen. Other awards include five Tony nominations, three Obie Awards, Guggenheim Fellowship, Ford Grant, Helen Hayes Award, Lila Acheson Wallace Grant, PEN Citation, and others.