Small Claims

Fiction. In this new novel by ReLit-award-winning, Leacock-nominated writer Andrew Kaufman, a man eschews the usual avenues of mid-life crisis--sportscars, mistresses--and instead seeks meaning in the least likely of places: small claims court. Every day for ten days he chronicles a case, relating it to his life, the breakdown of his marriage, and his relationship with his two young children, all in an attempt to rebuild his broken faith in humanity. With small observations, subtle investigations, and the constant pursuit of small-scale justice, the unnamed narrator struggles to understand himself, the life he's made, and the society he's living in--all through the framework of a court system that won't let you sue for damages above twenty thousand dollars. Like Willy Loman in Death of A Salesman, Charlie longs for acknowledgement--and finds it in the most unlikely place. This is Andrew Kaufman minus the magic realism and with a big dose of tenderness for the frailties of the heart.