Fiction. It was supposed to be the greatest night of our lives. It's the eve of the Obama election. Change is in the air and hope is running high. And for twenty-five-year-old, self-proclaimed cool man Michael Bishop, so is the alcohol and the bluster. Working a dead-end job proofing subtitles on third-rate videos, Michael has kept his future at bay through a stream of boozy nights or by blowing time in front of his Nintendo. That is, until he meets Ivy Chase, the smart, pretty pastor's daughter whose innocent charm takes his breath away. But Ivy turns out to be much more than Michael bargained for, and in a moment that surprises even him, he makes the decision of his life. Smart, funny, poignant, and very, very timely, LAST CALL IN THE CITY OF BRIDGES is a Bright Lights, Big City for the new millennium. With its memorable characters and unforgettable scenes, this insightful look into twenty-first-century America is a book you won't want to put down.

Like his post po-mo Facebook generation, Michael Bishop, the manic narrator of LAST CALL IN THE CITY OF BRIDGES, has reached the end of his irresponsible youth. Stuck and unsure, he looks back at those eight-bit Nintendo years with tender nostalgia while trying to feel his way forward. Like The Moviegoer, Salvatore Pane's debut novel is a romantic ironist's plea for authenticity in a fantastic age. It's telling--and hilarious--that his hero's model for male adulthood isn't William Holden but Super Mario.--Stewart O'Nan

Quite obviously, Salvatore Pane's mind has been dunked in video games, social media, comic books, the WebNet, and everything else our august literary authorities believe promote illiteracy. I'd like to hand the authorities Pane's novel--a funny, moving, melancholy, sad, and immensely literate book about what being young and confused feels like these days--and tell them, 'See? Things are going to be fine!'--Tom Bissell

LAST CALL IN THE CITY OF BRIDGES is Goodbye, Columbus 2.0, a poignant novel about looking for something real in a plastic world where Irony is Everything. This generational anthem is ultimately, despite all the 21st century detritus, an old-fashioned page turner, full of old verities and truths of the heart. Salvatore Pane's voice is both new and necessary, one I know I'll be reading for years to come.--Cathy Day

Like the comic book heroes he obsesses over, Michael Bishop has an origin story, the story of the first wound that makes his powers necessary--and in LAST CALL IN THE CITY OF BRIDGES, Michael at last faces into that tragedy, resurfacing suddenly at the mid-point of his twenties, those years of snark and expectation spent proofreading DVD subtitles, drinking literature-themed cocktails, and pining over preacher's daughters and college crushes. In this witty and charming debut, Salvatore Pane reminds us that while you can't retcon your past, you can perhaps learn to live up to its responsibilities, by using your powers not necessarily to save the ones you love from loss, but to care for those left behind in its wake.--Matt Bell