David Perlstein

The Odd Plight of Adonis Licht David Perlstein

The Odd Plight of Adonis Licht

Perception and reality collide in a dark, witty fable combining a reversal of Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis with overtones of Jerzy Kosinski's Being There. Adonis Licht, a nondescript museum art curator, is a loner whose closest friend is a mute bag lady shrouded in black. After sleeping four straight days, Adonis awakens to find himself handsome and athletic beyond his wildest dreams.

Adonis's career takes off. Beautiful women come on to him. He becomes a media figure. Yet he finds it difficult to reconcile his striking looks and celebrity with his former self--the quiet, awkward scholar whose painful past haunts him.

A sixteenth-century masterpiece and relationships with a coworker, his ravishing manager, and a journalist carry Adonis on an emotional roller coaster. Despite a catastrophe at the museum, his star continues to rise. When tragedy strikes, Adonis discovers that fantasy has a dark side.