A brilliant, hilarious fiction by Ozick, chronicling the life and times of Ruth Puttermesser, a Bronx resident and civil servant who spends most afternoons at the Metropolitan Museum. At one point "Puttermesser", as Ozick impersonally refers to her, creates her very own Golem, who then aids her in winning the mayoralty of New York City. The book takes a dark turn as it details Puttermesser's violent demise, but by the last chapter her Honor the Mayor is happily dead and in Paradise. This was a finalist for the National Book Award, and was chosen as a Best Book of the Year by Publishers Weekly  (NYC39, $13.95)