New Book Takes Place In Jersey City Heights And Hoboken, Author To Read

HUDSON COUNTY, NJ — Ruth Bonapace lived in Hoboken and Jersey City Heights for more than 30 years, and her debut novel, the Bulgarian Training Manual, reflects that.

The comic novel was to be launched this week with a reading at Word Bookstore Tuesday, June 4 in Jersey City. Another reading is coming up in Hoboken this month.

Bonapace — who currently lives in Leonia but plans to move back to Jersey City — describes the book as "the story of Tina and her working-class dreams. A struggling real estate agent and ex-roadie born in Jersey City Heights, she is on a quest to find her true parents, jeans that fit, and an escape from her basement apartment in Hoboken."

With the help of a mysterious book, Tina sets out on a "hilarious, mind-bending journey of discovery and friendship," Bonapace says.

Bonapace worked as a sports reporter for the Associated Press just after college, while living in Hudson County. The novel partly reflects the worship of athletes she saw on the job.

Currently, she's a mortgage broker. She says she's also drawn inspiration from the real estate agents she’s worked with over the years in Hudson County.

She describes the book as a "sly look at self-improvement and a send-up of America’s obsession with branding, monetizing and fame."

How She Got Published

The book was published this month by Clash Books, a small press in Troy, N.Y.

It's not easy to get a first novel into publication, and Bonapace described her journey this week.

"I was in the process of querying agents when the author Kaylie Jones, who I met during my MFA at Stony Brook University — she is on the

faculty — told me about Clash, a new small press which was looking for literary fiction that is outside the box," Bonapace said. "She knew the editor and thought it would be a good fit. I eventually sent the manuscript to them and she was right; they loved it. They were so enthusiastic that I
decided to say yes."

While the novel is funny at times, there is a serious subtext woven in, as the characters confront body image and the price of fame.

“Social media influencers promise quick secrets to health, longevity, good looks, greatbody and so on,” Bonapace said. “Instagram and TikTok are filled with gurus and ever-new fad diets."

Bonapace grew up on Long Island. She has a Masters in Fine Arts in creative writing and literature from Stony Brook University.

She will read excepts of the novel on Tueday, June 5 at Word Books in Jersey City and on June 20 at Little City Books in Hoboken. Find out more about Bonapace and her writing here.

Read more about the novel at Clash Books, here.