A unique tour of the US: “Who better than a kind-hearted foreigner to help you marvel at our own land and learn something about your fellow Americans?” —Bloomberg Businessweek In 2002 Guillermo Fesser quit his morning radio talk show in Madrid, and moved with his family to Rhinebeck, NY, for a sabbatical year. Finding himself in a rural community 6,000 miles from home and 100 miles from New York City, Fesser began to discover an America he had never imagined existed. One Hundred Miles from Manhattan is a fresh, funny, positive and affectionate portrait of life in small-town America—and beyond. This book is filled with the stories of the people Fesser met, the places he visited and the things he learned during his year in Rhinebeck, from the German neighbors who welcome in the New Year by jumping back and forth from the couch to the coffee table to a Texan rancher who follows Native American traditions in the raising of bison; from a guide who leads fishing expeditions into Alaska’s Kuskokwim Mountains to the engineer responsible for the steam conduction system in Manhattan’s underbelly; and from a former follower of Reverend Moon turned track coach to the man who created Big Bird.

From Chris Orcutt, critically acclaimed author of the Dakota Stevens Mystery Series, comes a rich and descriptive modern novel about a rarefied Upstate New York town where "...readers can eavesdrop on the lives of the uber-rich and those who cater to them."* An IndieReader Best Book of 2014. Welcome to Wellington, New York, where the hills and the seemingly quaint village conceal lives of love, lust, adultery, tragedy and small wars. A trophy wife undergoes a shocking transformation. A medical doctor attracts his own destruction. A local bachelor steals a dog and has an epiphany. A town Casanova goes on a personal odyssey to make amends. And a Manhattan book editor reveals what it's like to be a first-time visitor to this rarefied world of wealth, horses and equestriennes. High Thread-Count Dirty Laundry... To this exquisitely written novel, Chris Orcutt brings his meticulous craft and his talent for writing in multifarious voices and styles, all while exposing a world of massive estates, rolling green hills, hilltoppers, townies, celebrities, hopes, dreams, sex, and the fleeting promises of love... --- "In the rarified town of Wellington, N.Y., the 'absurdly wealthy' ride horses, live well, and turn to the community's less affluent for diversion and recreation. Journalist turned novelist Orcutt (the Dakota Stevens series) gives nine Wellington residents--plus one visitor--each their own chapter in this novel.... Insulated by their wealth, these idle rich knowingly embrace the all-too-foreseeable consequences of their actions, revealing a town where selfishness is a way of life." — Publishers Weekly, Booklife "Welcome to Wellington, New York, where, in this loose novel, readers can eavesdrop on the lives of the uber-rich and those who cater to them. Think of a very, very upscale Winesburg, Ohio--with no inhabitant nearly so innocent as young George Willard. Or think John Cheever, for this is certainly Cheever country." — Kirkus Reviews "Chris Orcutt's ten short interwoven stories are widely varied in style, offering rich and descriptive language....The stories offer a lightness and fluidity in writing....Orcutt pays tribute to his literary muses often mentioning his inspiration through his literate characters.... (5 stars; IR approved)" — IndieReader "May I add that there's also humor, delight and fun? This is a portrait of a town and its denizens--its schools, its diner and hardware store, its hair salon ... as you read it, you are there (hey, maybe you really are there!). In short, this book is full of surprises and is totally fun to read." — Ann La Farge, The Hudson Valley News "He is so exquisite in his writing that I couldn't wait to finish....I cannot tell you the joy it gives me to read literature that is so well defined. The prose is exemplary." — Pam Stack, Authors on the Air Global Radio Network