Fools for Love

Schulman (Lucky Dogs) offers a funny and mostly engrossing collection of stories published over the past three decades and bookended by a pair about a playwright named Anna. The title entry portrays Anna in 1980s New York City, when she is 22 and married to an actor who will eventually die of AIDS. In the closer, “In a Better Place,” set decades later, Anna is remarried and the mother of an adult daughter. On a visit to France, she spies her long-dead father, now alive and eating oysters. France also plays host to “The Shabbos Goy,” which sees a nonreligious Brooklynite in Paris becoming involved in the local Jewish community, helping with the turning-off of light switches and other tasks during the Sabbath. Two tales, “P.S.,” about a college admissions coordinator who believes an applicant is the reincarnation of her dead former boyfriend, and “The Revisionist,” a story whose plot is indebted to John Cheever’s “The Swimmer,” were expanded earlier by Schulman into novels. Though a couple entries rely on obvious punch lines, Schulman smartly balances humor and heartache throughout. The author’s smart eye for detail and bold characterizations make for an entertaining affair. Agent: Sloan Harris, CAA. (July)