Showing Bump by Diana Wagman

“Set in L.A., Diana Wagman’s Bump begins (appropriately enough, in that car-carpeted town) with a fender bender. Gradually, the story metamorphoses (more appropriately still, in that city of dreams become film) into a fairy tale. This remarkable journey from a commuter’s daily life to a zone of romantic enchantment is marked by keen sociological observations and flashing moments of humor.” —Brad Leithauser, author of A Few Corrections: A Novel

From an award-winning writer, this is a darkly funny, cinematic page-turner that explores the line between obsession and love. Bump is the story of a trio of motorists and one policeman linked together by a tangled, life-altering web of coincidence in the immediate aftermath of a three-car pileup in Los Angeles. Dorothy is to be married in less than 24 hours but can’t shake the memory of her ex-boyfriend. Madelyn is a married mother of two who falls in love with a double-amputee she met through a suicide hotline. Leo is a golden-eyed Latino who speaks no Spanish and has come to L.A. to reclaim his girlfriend. Ray is a suicide-obsessed Beverly Hills cop whose wife has just left him. Diana Wagman’s fast-paced and vividly cinematic narrative presents an engrossing tableau of synchronicity steered by obsession and alienation. Beautifully written and deeply affecting, Bump is hard to put down, and hard to forget. “Diana Wagman is wicked fun, and…Bump shows off her talents to a T. Witty, perceptive and compulsively readable.” —Janet Fitch, author of White Oleander

“Wagman’s crisp and lively prose makes for a thoroughly enjoyable read: the pages flew by.” —Aimee Bender, author of The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake and The Color Master: Stories

“Darkly funny and compelling…Bump belts the reader in for a trippy Carveresque adventure.” —East Bay Express

“[Diana Wagman's] minidramas recall Ann Beattie’s or Lorrie Moore’s clarity.” —San Francisco Chronicle

“…[D]espite the relentlessly dark subject matter, Wagman’s writing has a hypnotic, rhythmic quality that keeps the reader interested till the end.” —Kathleen Hughes, Booklist