Ponder: A Novel

A darkly comic tale of love, loss, and heavy drinking in Walt Disney World at the turn of the millennium Murray “Cheese” Marks and John Apple, his slimmer, richer, more single friend, have chosen the happiest place on Earth for their annual boys’ trip. Disney World may seem like a strange choice for two grown men on a glorified binge-drinking trip; it is. But Cheese has never been, and his wife allows him this expense-free trip.

The Magic Kingdom was the last place John saw his parents before they died in a plane crash. John Apple was twelve then and wanted to return before he turned thirty. Cheese and John’s buddy-comedy turns into a love-triangle drama when they meet a beautiful, free-spirited southern Belle named Virginia.

John and Cheese quickly fall in love—but Virginia’s parents inexplicably push her not toward the handsome, single millionaire, but toward Cheese. And Cheese can’t help but encourage it—at least until his wife and John’s ex descend on Florida. Ponder is the second novel from Daniel Roberts, author of the USA Today bestselling Bar Maid, and showcases the same sardonic style that Kirkus praised as “old-school, slightly surreal humor [that] has a dash of Barthelme or Perelman.”