Sheer Pressure Press Release
Many thanks for requesting a copy of Manhattan author, Greg Abbott’s latest release, Sheer Pressure. Just as The Graduate portrayed the dark side of suburbia and came to symbolize the rebellious 60s, Greg Abbott’s immensely entertaining novel Sheer Pressure, of the same edgy, comedic genre, embodies the perilous, overheated, fearbased new millennium. In Abbott’s riveting story, the reader roots for the adulterers, two intelligent, talented, yet psychologically unfulfilled young adults who struggle to balance their emotional needs with the high and stifling expectations that go with privilege. Sometimes the established mores can imprison us and perpetuate evil; sometimes it is necessary to break time-honored rules for the sake of the traditional values that those rules purport to uphold. Sometimes it takes courage to do the ―wrong‖ thing and face the fact that it is the world and not you that is crazy. Founder and CEO of International Dispensing Corporation and the first major investor in EarthLink, Abbott weaves a compelling story, capturing the worlds of Upper East Side Manhattan and big business with a bona fide insider’s perspective. While casting a wry eye at upper-crust New York society—especially its ―ladies who lunch‖ and highcapacity tycoons—Sheer Pressure follows the lives of two thirty-year-olds who are emotionally burdened by money and family. They struggle, heroically at times, clumsily at others, through a social and business minefield, desperate to find meaning in a world where the forces against change are unshakable. As Abbott states, ―My characters―even from their upper-class vantage point―reflect the angst and pressure of our times.‖ With high wit, a keenly observant voice, and affection for all his characters, even the villains, Abbott captures a world that few of us know first hand, and also the difficulties and complexities that go with wealth and privilege. While providing an absorbing portrait of a couple edging toward maturity by crossing seemingly rigid social boundaries, Sheer Pressure buzzes along with high humor, terrific hairpin turns, unpredictable twists, and a slam-bam surprise ending. Is ―happily-ever-after‖ possible between two highly desperate people? Can an ill-fated couple defy the odds and become fully realized adults? Sheer Pressure is recommended for all adult readers, but especially for those entering into adulthood with no clue where to begin. Abbott’s novel is a fun, fast-paced read that nonetheless faces difficult subjects with depth and with a unique perspective. Greg Abbott has widespread media experience and is available for interviews. If you should need further information, please contact me directly at (402) 421-8060 or email michelleschlegel@neb.rr.com.
AVAILABLE FOR INTERVIEWS For More Information, Contact: Michelle Schlegel (402) 421-8060 michelleschlegel@neb.rr.com
The Transformation of Good Bedfellows
LINCOLN, Neb. (September 29, 2006) – The charismatic, adrenaline-packed love story, Sheer Pressure follows the intriguing relationship of two thirty-year-olds emotionally encumbered by money and family. Alex Halaby, the playboy son of a pantyhose mogul, is fiercely independent, yet overwhelmed and stifled. Emily Lukes realizes that her marriage to a mega-millionaire art collector isn’t working for her. The star-crossed lovers struggle through social and business perils to become fully-realized adults. Sparks fly on page after page of this novel by author Greg Abbott, a Princeton University graduate who himself is part of New York City’s upper echelons. A pioneer in numerous businesses and a founding investor of EarthLink, Abbott takes readers on a gambol through what one has called ―the good, the bad and the ugly of everything that is right and wrong about the city’s moneyed class, at the same time weaving an engrossing and fast moving tale of greed, sex and ultimate redemption.‖ With a keen attention to detail and high humor, Abbott writes a fascinating, fast-paced story that nonetheless delves deeply into the minds and hearts of his characters. Readers will quickly become ensconced into a tale of interconnected worlds: one where greed, power, deceit, and corruption prevail, and one that is filled with the quest for true love, pragmatic limitations, and a clear conscience. As another reader states, ―The characters in these two worlds duel through the author’s pen.‖ Abbott’s insight reveals New York’s ―social royalty‖ for their true selves. ―Not enough people today are questioning things. Not enough are rebelling against the power structure, against the assault on our freedoms,‖ Abbott says. Alex and Emily question, rebel, assert their freedom, and eventually overcome their fears. ―They reveal—even from their upperclass vantage point—the angst of our times.‖
Pertinent Information: Sheer Pressure By: Greg Abbott Price: $15.95 US; 324; ISBN: 0-595-38653-9; 6 x 9 Paperback; www.iuniverse.com
Proposed Questions for an Interview with Greg Abbott:
1. Why did you write Sheer Pressure? One of the burdens and frustrations of being the son of self-made parents is that anything you accomplish, and your life in general, is diminished in the world’s eyes by virtue of the fact that you started out with advantages. Around the time of my college graduation, just when I was about to forge my future, my father got pneumonia, and in a stew of guilt, love, obligation, and financial seduction, I joined the family business. Concurrently, I also stepped into the Manhattan youngerset fast lane. Fashion magazines pegged me among the city’s ―top bachelors‖ and young ―power people‖; I dated socialites and princesses. Beneath my veneer of confidence, the nepotism label and stifling family situation plagued me to the point where I had no strong sense of self, didn’t feel I had any right to express myself―which might be perfect if you want to marry a socialite or a princess. But I was churning with self-doubt and loneliness, harboring love-hate feelings for just about everything in my life, and so I sought solace in… decadent pursuits―none of which, by the way, I regret today. Only when my father’s heart attack resulted in placing the business in my young, untested hands did I get the unusual chance to prove myself and earn his respect, which was great except for the fact that at the peak of my business success I got involved in a sick relationship with a married woman that brought me to an all-time low. Writing a novel is cheaper and more fun than therapy. People will hopefully read your novel, but how many will pay 25 bucks to hear about your therapy? Writing the novel became my personal journey as I made endless revisions, started over in fits of dismay, trying desperately to make the main characters sympathetic. Eventually I developed affection for all my characters, and learned to see the humor in everything. I also did a lot of other things during those ten years, like starting a family and founding three companies, and having an in-progress novel in my drawer was a great source of comfort. 2. How does your book help the reader deal with the torment of the times? Not to get too heavy here, but aren’t we living in an era of sheer pressure? Our lives are overheated. Our freedoms are under attack―by outside forces, by our own institutions, our own apathy. Anything that depicts people questioning the prevailing reality and power structure, mustering the courage to escape whatever enslaves them, is healthy and hopefully illuminating on some level. The fact that Alex and Emily are rich almost makes their plight greater; in material terms, they have more to lose. They are two pretty basic people who seem to have everything, yet they yearn for something more. The fact that society can’t relate to their situation and may dismiss them as spoiled brats with no real problems only adds to their rage and confusion. The forces against them are cold, insidious, entrenched. They don’t even have the freedom to find out if their love is real. Ultimately, they are forced to burn all bridges and make a leap of faith into the unknown… 3. Is the book autobiographical in any form? The autobiographical bones (which I touch upon in question #1) date back to the late 1970s/early 1980s, yet the story takes place in post-9/11 NYC, so how autobiographical can the novel be? The liver, kidneys, etc. are the products of my imagination. Yes, the characters are largely composites drawn from personal experience and observation, and the venue is familiar to me. But over the 10-year course of writing the novel, very early in the process actually, the story and characters developed a life of their own and I stopped thinking in terms of my own life. Much as this might disappoint some old friends, Sheer Pressure is not a roman a clef. It is a work of fiction. 4. Is there another book on the horizon? I am mulling over a novel, in the same genre as Sheer Pressure, about uptight Manhattan parents vying to get their 5year-old kids into the top private schools. Having just gone through ―the process‖ with three kids, I have amassed priceless anecdotes, and I believe I can give the subject a fresh, funny slant. My perspective on this world seems to amuse some people, much to my surprise at times.
About the Author: Who is Greg Abbott?
A
fter graduating from Princeton University in 1972 with a B.A. in history, Greg Abbott joined Ithaca Industries, Inc., a private label manufacturer of pantyhose, men’s and women’s underwear and t-shirts for a single customer, the JC Penney Company. It was also the family business. In 1979, at age 29, Greg was named chairman and CEO and over the next seven years the company’s customer base grew to over 400 (including Wal-Mart, Sears, Nike, Evan Picone, Target, Mervyns) and Ithaca Industries became the nation’s largest private label manufacturer of each of its product lines. After negotiating a leveraged buyout of the company with Merrill Lunch and staying on as CEO, Greg departed on good terms to become a private investor and writer. In 1995, Greg became the first major investor in EarthLink and played a primary role in securing the financing to carry the company to its IPO in 1998. Today, EarthLink remains the world’s second largest Internet Service Provider behind AOL. Today, Greg is chairman and CEO of International Dispensing Corporation (IDC), a company he founded in 1996. IDC’s patented, FDA-certified technology―The Answer™―enables consumers to dispense shelf-stable milk and juice for months, in varied environments, without recourse to refrigeration or preservatives. Teaming up with long-time friend and award-winning chef Charles Dale, Greg also co-founded Dale’s Kitchen, maker of Stock in a Box™, a line of shelf-stable, preservative-free cooking stocks utilizing The Answer™ in its packaging. Dale’s Kitchen’s mission is to simplify the lives of chefs around the world and to improving the environment of commercial kitchens. Greg lives in New York City and Aspen with his wife and their three children.