Ground Up

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Ground Up

By: Michael Idov

Narrated by: Stefan Rudnicki

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About this listen

Light streams through the windows as the espresso machine roars; a gorgeous, rich scent fills the air; and witty conversation unspools over the porcelain cups. That's the caf dream. Mark and Nina are about to experience the reality.

Determined to re-create the perfect Viennese coffeehouse, they descend on New York's gritty but hip Lower East Side to educate the locals on authentic caf culture. Soon Mark and Nina are in a downward spiral that will strip them of money, friends, sex life, status, shelter, and, finally, sanity and offer salvation through something they have never experienced: disaster.

Inspired by the authors own coffeehouse hell, Ground Up is a sharp and funny portrait of a New York constantly reinventing itself, and a surprisingly tender story of falling out of love and back in it again.

Genre Fiction

Literary Fiction

Witty

Critic reviews

"Packed with insight and frequent hilarious asides, Idov's debut mercilessly takes down 'money is an illusion' bohoism." (Publishers Weekly)

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