Novelist, screenwriter, and playwright Bruce Jay Friedman has been called an "American original," with a voice "equidistant from those of Wilde, Salinger, and Woody Allen." Credited as one of the originators of what we've come to call black comedy for his darkly tinged humor, he's the author of such bestselling novels as A Mother's Kisses, The Dick, and Stern. He's also written scores of brilliant short stories and essays for magazines like Esquire and The New Yorker, one of which became the basis for the film The Heartbreak Kid. He wrote the screenplay for Splash, which garnered an Academy Award nomination and the New York Film Critics Circle Award. His most recent book,Sexual Pensees,examines the peculiarities of the sexual dance in our society. In this special evening event, Friedman will read from some of his favorite stories.