One ordinary man's quest to become a serious man. Physics professor Larry Gopnik can't believe his life. His wife is leaving him, his unemployed brother won't move off the couch, someone is threatening his career, his kids are a mystery. Larry tries to make sense of it all and find the answers.

Once upon a time Keith Michaels was an award-winning Hollywood screenwriter, but divorce and a string of unsuccessful films have left him with nothing but bad debts and blank pages. So when his agent arranges a job as guest screenwriting professor at a remote university in upstate New York, a desperate Keith can't say no. Initially hoping to give minimal effort to actual teaching so he can focus on his next script, Keith unexpectedly finds himself...

A successful suburbanite commuter Howard Wakefield takes a perverse detour from family life: He vanishes without a trace. Hidden in the attic of his carriage house garage, surviving by scavenging at night, Howard secretly observes the lives of his wife and children and neighbors. Wakefield becomes a fraught meditation on marriage and identity, as Howard slowly realizes that he has not in fact left his family, he has left himself.

One ordinary man's quest to become a serious man. Physics professor Larry Gopnik can't believe his life, His wife is leaving him for his best friend, his unemployed brother won't move off the couch, someone is threatening his career, his kids are a mystery and his neighbor is tormenting him by sunbathing nude. Struggling to make sense of it all, Larry consults three different rabbis and their answers lead him on a twisted journey of faith, family,...

Presents the story of George F. Babbitt, the owner of a real estate company in the 1920's. Through the life and times of the main character, the author provides a satirical view of the sociology of American business and middle-class culture.

Confirmed bachelor Don has just been dumped by his latest lover, Sherry. Don begins to resign himself to being alone and left to his own devices. However, he becomes compelled to reflect on his past when he receives a mysterious pink letter by mail. It is from an anonymous former lover and informs him that he has a 19-year-old son who may be looking for his father. Don is urged to investigate the contents of the letter by his closest friend and neighbor,...

A man becomes haunted by his past and is presented with a mysterious legacy that causes him to re-think his current situation in life.

A middle-aged man marries an oppressive widow in order to be near and carry on an affair with her nymphet daughter.

Fiftysomething and still clueless Leo Spivak is drifting through life without a compass. Among his problems are his rebelling teenage daughter, a gravely ill father, a work protege after his job, and his wife is loing her patience and his own judgment are sinking fast. It's going to take a bizarre twist of fate and some twisted wisdom from a "freelance rabbi" to help Leo navigate the murky waters of middle age and turn his midlife crisis into a midlife...

A lonely, neurotic and hilariously honest middle-aged man reunites with his estranged wife and meets his teenage daughter for the first time.