Flesh and Blood: A Novel

New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1995. First Edition. Hard Cover. Very Good/Near Fine. 6x1x9. Signed by author. First edition. Signed by author without inscription on title page. Top edge lightly foxed, fore edge lightly smudged, jacket in excellent condition. 1995 Hard Cover. 465 pp. In 1950, Constantine Stassos, a Greek immigrant laborer, marries Mary Cuccio, an Italian-American girl, and together they produce three children: Susan, an ambitious beauty, Billy, a brilliant homosexual, and Zoe, a wild child. Over the years, a web of tangled longings, love, inadequacies and unfulfilled dreams unfolds as Mary and Constantine's marriage fails and Susan, Billy, and Zoe leave to make families of their own. Zoe raises a child with the help of a transvestite, Billy makes a life with another man, and Susan raises a son conceived in secret, each extending the meaning of family and love. With the power of a Greek tragedy, the story builds to a heartbreaking crescendo, allowing a glimpse into contemporary life which will echo in one's heart for years to come.