Medium Rare

From the author of The Portrait of a Mirror, a modern tragicomedy transforms the myth of Icarus into a blazing romp through bureaucracy, B-list fame, and college basketball… Phil is ordinary. A mid-level Washington lobbyist for a decidedly unsexy organization, unhappy in the way all mildly successful, minimally influential men are. That is until one spring when Phil’s picks for the 2019 NCAA March Madness Tournament start panning out, and heads begin to turn his way. He really may do it, predict a perfect bracket, for a billion-dollar prize. And at first, Cassandra is just along for Phil’s soaring ride up—she had foreseen it happening, after all. Despite moving in different circles since their shared university days, and despite never really liking him, Cassandra recognizes in Phil the making of legend. She befriends him accordingly. What Cassandra fails to predict, though, is just how much she’d grow to care about Phil’s wife—how impossible it would feel to lie to her about the fall that’s fast approaching them all. Dazzling in its absurd comedy, Medium Rare is not only a romp through the upper echelon, but also a shrewd examination of madness, desire, and credibility—why don’t we listen when a woman speaks? Natasha Joukovsky delivers a story as layered and incisive as it is deeply entertaining.