The Splendid Prize

About the Book

"George Russell, 56, and Cheryl Baker, 31, are involved in an unusual nonsexual relationship. Twice-divorced, he’s on friendly terms with his second wife, Kelly, the adoptive mother of his 34-year-old son, and gun-shy of a third marital attempt. And Cheryl, a former 21-year-old college grad from Muncie, Indiana, had bad experiences with male students that have soured her on men in her age group. George belongs to a New York creative group whose members are deeply involved with each other, which includes him in a purely sexual relationship with Penny, a successful painter who also has a popular “Sex-Without-Fear” TV show. Then, when Cheryl falls in love with Bill, although she and George now have their own sex-without-fear relationship—it takes an ingenious decision to solve her problem!

About the Author

Marc Rangel was born an expatriate U.S. citizen in Central America. At the time, Nicaragua was at the tail end of its Occupation by the U.S. Marines (1912 to 1933), and its entire Caribbean Coast was the remnant of a 250-year-old British protectorate known as Mosquitia, that was annexed by Nicaragua in 1894. Since “coming home” to the U.S. in 1950, he has lived in New York, where he has been a freelance writer; editor at several national magazines, including Us; editor at United Feature Syndicate (UFS) and later Special Assignments Correspondent in the U.S. and abroad; among other similar jobs. The Splendid Prize is one of a quartet of New York novels he has written.