{"product_id":"9780472021673","title":"Miss Kansas City","description":"\u003ci\u003eMiss Kansas City\u003c\/i\u003e is the story of an improbable friendship, set in the tumultuous mid-80s dotcom California, where youthful greed and blinkered innocence arrive intertwined.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e Friendless and reclusive, Alex Blue commutes two hours each way to a job that serves mainly as a place to bide time, until one day she meets the wealthy, worldly— and married— owner of a high-concept Bay Area lifestyle company. Meanwhile, the melancholy and closeted Morton Levi, yearning for a loving partner but stung by prior experience, lives a secret life outside the software information company he manages with a steady, efficient hand— the same company where Alex works.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e As ominous rumors of mergers and layoffs swirl, and Alex and Mort are pushed to the emotional brink by the vagaries of love, they find themselves forging an unexpected alliance. \u003ci\u003eMiss Kansas City\u003c\/i\u003e is a moving exploration of the notion of possibility, and of a seasoned hope that can emerge on the other side of loneliness and loss.\u003cbr\u003e  \u003cbr\u003e \u003cb\u003eJoan Frank\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of the story collection \u003ci\u003eBoys Keep Being Born\u003c\/i\u003e, which was both a Bay Area Book Reviewers’ Award and Paterson Fiction Award finalist. Her stories appear in many journals and anthologies, including \u003ci\u003eThe Antioch Review,The Iowa Review,\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eSalmagundi\u003c\/i\u003e. She is a MacDowell Colony and VCCA Fellow, Pushcart Prize nominee, recipient of a Barbara Deming Grant, and winner of the Iowa Fiction Award and Emrys Fiction Award. She lives in Northern California. \u003ci\u003eMiss Kansas City\u003c\/i\u003e is her first novel.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003e","brand":"University of Michigan Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47106034958576,"sku":"9780472021673","price":23.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780472021673_p0.jpg?v=1763706721","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780472021673","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}