Emma Who Saved My Life

First published in 1989, the first novel from the author of Gospel. Gil Freeman dreams of leaving the Midwest, going to New York, and becoming a famous actor. "Full of sharp, often acid, character sketches, memorable scenes, alternately touching and uproariously funny, that linger in the memory".--Publishers Weekly.

Wilton Barnhardt's novel of coming of age in New York City brims with energy, surprise, irresistible humor, and the heady rush of youth. Its hero, Gil Freeman, a mid-western aspiring actor, comes to the city in search of stradom--but instead encounters the perils of Alphabet City, the desperation of off-off-off Broadway theater...and the exhilarating, exasperating, absolutely unique Emma, around whom his life comes to turn. Charming and engaging, quintessentially American, Emma Who Saved my Life is one of the extraordinary fiction debuts of our time.