Boyfriend from Hell (32 page)

Following
Kramer vs. Kramer
, Corman continued to explore themes of families in turmoil.
The Old Neighborhood
(1980) follows the life of a man whose ambivalence about success brings him back to the city streets where he was raised. His fifth novel,
50
(1987), examines a middle-aged man whose life falls apart, leading him to unexpected contentment.
The Big Hype
(1992) skewers the publishing industry and celebrity culture, while
Prized Possessions
(1991) deals with the consequences of being a victim of date rape for a young college student and her family.
A Perfect Divorce
(2004) tells the story of a divorced couple struggling to co-parent their troubled teenage son. Corman’s most recent novel,
The Boyfriend from Hell
(2006), follows a young, single journalist as she embarks on a new relationship that turns out to be more sinister than she could have imagined.

After achieving success as a novelist, Corman noticed that a cherished basketball court in his old neighborhood had been torn down. He donated funds to build a replacement and this served as a catalyst for the creation of the City Parks Foundation, now a multimillion dollar nonprofit organization that creates and funds parks programs throughout New York City. He has served on its board of directors since the foundation’s inception in 1989.

Corman continues to write novels, plays, and non-fiction.

A young Corman in the 1940s with his mother and sister, Jackie.

Corman’s aunt and uncle, Anne and Moses Cohn, in whose apartment he lived with his mother and sister while growing up in the 1940s.

Corman with his cousin, Selma, in the 1940s.

Corman, age twenty-six, on a snowy day in Central Park. He worked in magazine publishing at the time.

Corman with his son Matthew in 1972. (Photo by Bill Powers.)

The movie poster for
Oh, God!
The film was released in 1977 and was a hit for the studio and for George Burns, who played God.

The movie poster for
Kramer vs. Kramer
. The film, which was released in 1979, earned Oscars for both Dustin Hoffman and Meryl Streep, as well the awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, and Best Director.

Corman with his wife, Judy, and sons, Nicholas and Matthew, in 1983. Corman was never divorced. He and Judy were married for thirty-seven years, until her passing in 2004. (Photo by Jill Krementz.)

Corman, who suggested the City Parks Foundation create a track & field program for New York City children, with some of the 2,000 citywide participants in 2012. (Photo by Alan Roche.)

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This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, businesses, companies, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

copyright © 2006 by Avery Corman

cover design by Mimi Bark

978-1-4532-9242-6

This edition published in 2012 by Open Road Integrated Media

180 Varick Street

New York, NY 10014

www.openroadmedia.com

FROM OPEN ROAD MEDIA