In June, I attended a David Sedaris reading, part of his latest book tour. At the end, he held up Francine Prose's "Blue Angel" and said it was the funniest book he's read in a long time. So, knowing his work, I went into this novel expecting laugh out loud hilariousness. This novel is so much more though. Prose writes with such a clever hand that you don't often laugh out loud, but chuckle inside at her deft use of language and humor and wordplay. I loved the characters, especially Swenson, his wife Sherrie, and of course, the Angela, the Blue Angel herself. If you've ever taken a college creative writing class, you'll appreciate the numerous scenes where student stories are workshopped. Francine Prose captures college life and student attitudes perfectly. This novel made me want to read other Prose books.