Ask Bob

“[Gethers has] written thrillers along with best-selling accounts of Norton, his late, lamented cat . . . Now, appropriately for the dog days of August, he’s publishing a first romantic novel called Ask Bob, with dogs, cats, and a veterinarian named Dr. Bob. It’s quirky, heart-stirring, and commercial as all get-out.”— Vanity Fair

Peter Gethers is a hugely successful book editor, screenwriter, playwright, publisher and author—but most of all, a gifted storyteller. His previous best-selling trilogy (The Cat Who Went To Paris, A Cat Abroad, and The Cat Who’ll Live Forever), the charming true tales about what he learned from his beloved cat, Norton, have set the stage for Ask Bob (Henry Holt; on sale: August 6, 2013), a clever and moving novel about a pet doctor who understands animals a lot better than people.

Dr. Robert Heller is one of New York City’s leading veterinarians and his “Ask Dr. Bob” newspaper advice column is a must-read among pet lovers. However, Dr. Bob himself could use some advice, especially when it comes to dealing with his family. His father is angry and controlling, his mother is nearly invisible, and his brother seems hell-bent on destroying not just his own life, but the lives of everyone around him. As for Bob’s wife, Anna, she is all but perfect, despite her own colorful but deeply dysfunctional clan. The small practice where Dr. Bob works in Manhattan’s West Village provides him with a regular, albeit quirky, community—a faux Frenchman from the Bronx with a pet snail named Speedo and an elderly compulsive gambler on her ninth cat, to name a few—but just when Bob thinks he’s figured out how to thrive in the human world as easily as he does among cats, dogs, and hamsters, tragedy strikes.

Gethers’ novel is utterly irresistible; witty, wise, and wonderfully human. Full of unforgettable characters (and more than a few exotic creatures), Ask Bob reminds us that the road to happiness–although bumpy–is worth it.

ABOUT PETER GETHERS

Peter Gethers is the author of Ask Bob, and The Cat Who Went to Paris, the first book in a bestselling trilogy about his extraordinary cat, Norton. When not writing memoirs and novels, he is a screenwriter, playwright, book publisher, and film and television producer. He is also the co-creator and co-producer of the hit off-Broadway play Old Jews Telling Jokes, and one of the co-creators of Rotisserie League Baseball, which begat the fantasy-sports craze.