Cathartically speaking, Hot Air is, in the words of one reader who had a copy of the galleys, "one hell of a good read, especially since so many of the characters, who like some of their real-life counterparts are simply reprehensible, do indeed come out looking like blithering idiots! It's great how we can all laugh and sneer at them in this book."

Hot Air,by New Jersey journalist, playwright and public relations professional Joel Samberg, is the story of a young writer in Cape May, New Jersey, and his year-long odyssey to get some personal satisfaction and professional validation. The 298-page novel from PublishAmerica (Frederick, MD) is a scathing (and scathingly funny( indictment against many of the impediments to young families today that can make starting out nothing less than miserable.

"I've had humor columns over the last few years in several New Jersey magazines in which I've complained about so many of life's ups and downs - and the people responsible for most of the downs. But with each column only about 600 words, it was tough to really stick it to all those I wanted to stick it to," Samberg says. "With Hot Air, I was able to tell a richer, longer story and, more importantly, provide a few hours of entertainment instead of just a few minutes. I'm very thankful for that opportunity."

When asked if Hot Air, like his humor columns, is based on real life, Samberg ponders the question awhile before answering. "Let's just put it this way," he finally says. "My next-door neighbor never answered her door in skimpy underwear, my daughter never tossed bagels all over the back of a bagel store, and I never threw nickels and dimes at passengers on a train. But I did go to Bellevue Hospital with a fang of blood in my mouth, I did search for a cat who I thought jumped out of the window during a thunderstorm, my neighbor's rice did bubble up into the sink at my first apartment, and I did invite a man over to my apartment who I mistakenly thought was going to give me a freelance writing assignment. Does that answer your question?" What Samberg is referring to is that many of the characters and situations in his witty and literate narrative are loosely based on real life with the exaggerations and modifications that make for good, effective and liberating fiction.

Hot Air tells the story of Jeff Wiser, a 30-year-old trade magazine editor who wants to find a new apartment before he kills his bastard of a landlord, a new job before his blowhard of a publisher kills him, and some validation as a writer before he kills himself. A year-long odyssey takes Jeff from Cape May, where he has to deal with a near-naked neighbor and a manuscript-hating bee, to New York City, where he feels as if he's being brainwashed by a newspaper publishing cult, to Dallas, where he comes tantalizingly close to selling a teleplay to a producer, and then back to Cape May, for a climactic hot-air balloon festival. Jeff chases after his fate, but finds only luck instead.

Samberg has had more than 125 articles and essays published in newspapers and magazines, including the New Jersey Savvy Living, the New York Times, New Jersey Monthly, Moment Magazine, Jersey City Magazine, New Jersey & Company Magazine and others. His two humor columns, "Point of Departure" and "The Roamin' Scribe," have been popular in local publications for several years. His series of short plays, "Six Tens from a Fifty," was performed off-off-Broadway by the Etcetera Theatre Company in Manhattan in February 2008. The plays in the series included "Homeless Equity," about a New York City bum trying to start a trade union, "Two Gentlemen of Verona, New Jersey," about a literary agent besieged by a would-be writer claiming to be the reincarnation of Romeo, and "Art of Deception," about a husband who has an ingenious plan to safely tell his wife he once cheated on her.  Samberg is also the author of two nonfiction books on religion and American culture.

About the Author

A 1979 graduate of Hofstra University where he studied journalism and theatre, Joel began his career as an editor on trade books and magazines for the photography and home video industries. Following that, he handled communications for several major consumer electronics.

"Hot Air" by Joel Samberg can be ordered online through Barnesandnoble.com, PublishAmerica.com, and various other online sites. A complete synopsis of Hot Air and other information about the author can be found at http://hot-air-the-novel.blogspot.com & at http://www.authorsden.com/joelasamberg.