Let Me Try Again by Matthew Davis

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A Romantic Tragicomedy of Faith, Family, and Folly

Ross, twenty-three, isn’t nearly as clever as he thinks he is. His brilliant idea to break up with his girlfriend, Lora Liamant, in an attempt to show her how terrible other men are and how empty life would be without him, has backfired spectacularly. Within weeks, he discovers she’s moved on with the brother of a famous network TV actor. In the midst of his heartbreak, Ross’s parents die tragically—in a helicopter crash at an all-inclusive resort in Turks and Caicos—leaving him with millions of dollars and custody over his teenage sister.

Traumatized, ruminating, and rich, Ross plots scheme after scheme to show Lora he’s changed into a responsible adult, even as she shows no indication of wanting that. Everything he does seems to make matters worse, as his misguided mission of self-transformation only leads to Lora’s confusion and dismay.

Let Me Try Again is an electric picaresque charting a young Jewish man’s spiral of neurotic pride and self-improvement within a culture that only caters to his worst impulses. Brimming with vitality and crackling with wit, Matthew Davis’s dynamic debut illuminates the absurdities of twenty-first-century life with ecstatic flair.

Year first published: 2024