Park Avenue Stories
by John F. Baker -- Publishers Weekly, 9/1/2003
A book of short stories called Better Homes and Husbands by a first-time writer was the first major book rights sale for an agent better known for movie deals: Bill Contardi, formerly at William Morris and now working with Brandt & Hochman. He made the two-book sale, for the collection and a novel by Valerie Ann Leff, to Diane Reverand at St. Martin's for six figures with good bonuses. It's a North American rights deal, and Contardi will, of course, handle movie sales. The book is about the denizens of an imaginary exclusive apartment building on Park Avenue in New York, and their various feuds and follies.
