Surf's Up in the City of Angels

Rusty Doors is a forty-something stand-up comedian in Anaheim whose career collapses after he tells a transgender joke at the Belly Laugh Comedy Club, earning him an official citation from the Los Angeles Decency Board. Supported reluctantly by his wife Felicia, a Special Ed teacher who is the family's breadwinner, and mentored by Frank, a loan shark enforcer who doubles as his AA sponsor, Rusty navigates grocery runs, a broken garbage disposal, and a surreal hearing at City Hall. The board sentences him not to a fine or jail but to mandatory group therapy, a verdict Rusty finds absurd yet unavoidable. Marty Marvel, KQBC's flamboyant weatherman famous for his outrageous sports jackets and corny jokes, is quietly flagged by station CEO Mr. Head Chop for slipping ratings. His human resources director arranges for him to attend the same therapy group run by Dr. Richard Schmidt. Meanwhile, a powerful media cabal playing golf at Riviera Country Club schemes to recruit Marty as a mayoral candidate, believing his trustworthy on-air persona is exactly what a cynical electorate will embrace. Marty, blissfully unaware of the political machinery turning around him, is more preoccupied with a Salvation Army shopping trip with his girlfriend Alma, the daughter of a junkyard owner, and his boss's ominous text message. Theresa Gunderson, a formidable personal injury attorney, is closing a pedestrian-versus-truck trial while simultaneously managing a private investigator named Dylan 'Big Foot' Rollins, who is tailing a litigious dog named Fifi through the Los Angeles Zoo. Theresa is sharp, overextended, and privately carrying wounds of her own — her therapist's reminder text hints at vulnerabilities beneath her courtroom armor. She, too, will end up in Dr. Schmidt's group, having been referred through professional channels. Dr. Schmidt, the therapist running the court-mandated and professionally assigned group sessions, is himself a reluctant participant in the city's chaos — a man who would rather be catching waves at the beach than sitting in a meeting room at Santa Monica Pier listening to damaged adults talk about their feelings. His group becomes the unlikely crucible in which all four protagonists are forced to confront their identities. Rusty learns that honesty is funnier and braver than shock comedy. Marty discovers that his folksy credibility has real-world power he has been squandering. Theresa begins to process the emotional cost of fighting everyone else's battles. Dr. Schmidt finds unexpected meaning in the connections his patients make. After eight weeks of group therapy, each character graduates with a certificate of completion and a clearer sense of direction. Rusty returns to the stage with sharper, self-aware material and lands a gig. Marty's ratings recover, and the political recruitment plot begins to close in on him. Theresa wins her trial and deepens her professional network. Dr. Schmidt goes surfing — but this time, he also goes back to the therapy room. The novel ends as a warm ensemble comedy-drama affirming that reinvention in Los Angeles, however ridiculous the path, is always possible.