Christine Sneed Knihy

Set against the backdrop of corporate America, this novel offers a satirical exploration of Quest Industries, a company known for its quirky and sometimes hazardous office machines. The narrative follows an eclectic cast, including the flawed CEO Bryan Stokerly, his clever secretary Hannah Louise Schmidt, and the ambitious yet troubled Dr. Ken Crickshaw, Jr. Through humor and surreal twists, the story critiques the absurdities of corporate culture, revealing a world that mirrors our own in unsettling ways.

The Virginity of Famous Men, award-winning story writer Christine Sneed's deeply perceptive collection on the human condition, features protagonists attempting to make peace with the choices--both personal and professional--they have so far made. In “The Prettiest Girls,” a location scout for a Hollywood film studio falls in love with a young Mexican woman who is more in love with the idea of stardom than with this older American man who takes her with him back to California. “Clear Conscience” focuses on the themes of family loyalty, divorce, motherhood, and whether “doing the right thing” is, in fact, always the right thing to do. In “Beach Vacation,” a mother realizes that her popular and coddled teenage son has become someone she has difficulty relating to, let alone loving with the same maternal fervor that once was second nature to her. The title story, “The Virginity of Famous Men,” explores family and fortune. Long intrigued by love and loneliness, Sneed leads readers through emotional landscapes both familiar and uncharted. These probing stories are explorations of the compassionate and passionate impulses that are inherent in--and often the source of--both abiding joy and serious distress in every human life.

The collection delves into the tragicomic nature of romantic love, presenting a series of stories that balance humor and heartache. Each narrative captures the complexities of relationships, revealing the joy and pain intertwined in love. Through a diverse cast of characters, the book examines the absurdities and vulnerabilities that come with romance, offering readers both laughter and reflection on their own experiences with love.

'Impressive . . . hypnotic . . . hard to put the book down. . . . Sneed is such a gifted writer.' - Curtis Sittenfeld, The New York Times Book Review

Jayne Marks is questioning the choices she has made in the years since college she is struggling to pay her bills in Manhattan when she is given the opportunity to move to Paris with her wealthy lover and benefactor, Laurent Moller, who owns and operates two art galleries: one in New York, the other in Paris. He offers her the time and financial support she needs to begin her career as a painter and also challenges her to see who and what she will become if she meets her artistic potential. Laurent, however, seems to have other women in his life and Jayne, too, has an ex-boyfriend, much closer to her own age, whom she still has feelings for. Bringing Paris gloriously to life, Paris, He Said is a novel about desire, beauty and its appreciation, and of finding yourself presented with the things you believe you've always wanted, only to wonder where true happiness lies.