Bachelor degree

Strolling the city sidewalks of Manhattan's posh Upper East Side are a bevy of well-dressed, attractive, and notably eligible single men, but can Samantha Krasner snag one before the competition does? Finding Mr. Right would certainly help keep her mother at bay. After all, the only thing separating their two apartments is Central Park. Not big enough. A successful gallery diva who must answer to a boss from hell, thirty-eight-year-old Samantha nonetheless finally feels as if she's leading her own life. But the ever-hovering, smothering Madeleine Krasner-Wolfe, a twice-divorced and filthy rich force of nature, always seems to have advice for her daughter about everything from fashion and beauty regimens to men. When Samantha signs up the new rising star of the art world, Blake Hamilton, Madeleine immediately sees him as a prospective son-in-law. Hoping to help her daughter land a husband before it's too late, Madeleine launches a flirt campaign that both infuriates and enthralls Samantha- compelling her to finally take action. From the toniest penthouses of Park Avenue to the trendiest SoHo lofts, Samantha is on a mission-if only her mother would get out of the way.

Beyond its central premise, the book can be read through the connected lenses of Fiction. Those themes offer useful points of attention as the characters, ideas, or world develop, especially where the book complicates the expectations of its primary category.