Tickled Pink

Mindy Solomon absolutely has to leave Miami. Florida is bad for her head and her hair. She dreams of a dancing career on Broadway and moves to New York, but after a string of failures and mishaps, she realizes that she needs to rethink her grand plan. Finding herself spending way too much time in the comedy club where her future ex-boyfriend works, she nervously goes up onstage one night. People laugh. Not in the places where Mindy thought they'd laugh, but hey, it's a start. Mindy and her friend Ursula Duran, a man-magnet model-slash-actress-slash-deeply troubled woman, soon embark on a wild ride that ricochets from New York's East Side Hotel for Women to the comedy circuit, auditions, photo shoots, film premieres, cable TV specials, Hollywood studios, late-night TV talk shows, and beyond. Surrounded by sleazy agents, sleazier lovers, and Ursula's even sleazier mother, the two find that life writes a few punch lines they weren't expecting...but through it all, they somehow manage to have the last laugh. Rita Rudner has crafted a debut novel that is not just funny, but moving and insightful. With its insider's viewpoint of the world of stand-up comedy, Tickled Pink is also, at its core, a touching tale of love, loss, female friendship, and forgiveness.

Rita Rudner is well known for her prowess as a comedian. Less well known are her accomplishments as an author and screenwriter. Coauthor of the screenplays for the award-winning films Peter's Friends, which starred Emma Thompson and Kenneth Branagh, and A Weekend in the Country, which starred Jack Lemmon, Rudner is also the bestselling author of two previous books: Naked Beneath My Clothes and Rita Rudner's Guide to Men. She has starred in two of her own HBO specials, Born to Be Mild and Married Without Children, and presently performs exclusively in Las Vegas. Visit her Web site at www.ritafunny.com.