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Humorist Welter's laugh-out-loud first novel looks at the pain of life and the absurdity of journalism through the eyes of a (chronologically) grown-up Holden Caulfield. Kurt Clausen gets by in North Carolina on one-liners and routines; in his company, other people join in the irreverent, wacky mood, but the offbeat humor that makes him initially attractive to women and editors soon palls: Kurt keeps getting fired, and women keep leaving him. He's a vulnerable, brokenhearted, unemployed journalist who's recently acknowledged his alcoholism when he meets Janice. Soon he's deeply in love and in a new job, taking a blithely unconventional approach to the news stories that come his way: a KKK march, a gay police-chief, a kindergarten teacher accused of making a violent threat. Behind the upbeat account of a bright romance and the often hilariously on- target gibes at journalistic practice, it's clear that Kurt is headed for trouble again: he rattles on with goofy humor even when Janice is trying to articulate her confusion about life; his reporting begins to border on the glib and callous. What has seemed like Kurt's poignant and legitimate protest against contemporary values begins to look like the sneering of a troubled outsider, oblivious to the way he reduces all concerns to an amusing game for himself. Welter admirably balances humor with serious feeling, while Kurt—who sees both clearly and not at all—is maddening, lovable, and possibly capable of change.