Excerpt from Group by Paul Solotaroff, plus links to reviews, author biography & more

"The fine," he said, "ate up most of my assets, and whatever else was left, the IRS grabbed. It seems that, in all my madness, I'd forgotten to file my taxes--for a period of three years running. And so, even though I was still getting checks from shows on tour, the feds took fifty-five percent for back taxes, and then the state and city took theirs. Which is not to say that I got a raw deal; far from it, I owed the money, plain and simple. But it did mean feeding my family on a fraction of what I had been, while at the same time being barred from going to work again."

The other members groaned now, not in assent but anguish, shaking their heads in chorus. "How long did they suspend you for?" Sara asked gently.

"Seven years," he said, not looking up at her. "I can apply for reinstatement next April. Though, at sixty, even if they let me back, it's hard to imagine someone wanting to invest their dough with . . ."

He trailed off, exhausted by the rest of the thought. A silence set in, during which Lathon held back, his stillness deterring the others from speaking. For a half minute, the radiator had the floor, harmonizing with the wind that bent the windows.

Finally, Lathon sat up, checking his watch. The session was nearly an hour old. "We're going to have to move on, if we're going to get other people heard tonight. But before we do, Jack, maybe you could tell us what you wanted to work on here."

Jack nodded and cleared his throat, incompletely roused from thought. "Yeah, that's good," he said, rheumily. "I would like to do that, thanks." He propped himself up and trimmed the fit of his blazer; there was something almost martial in his physical pride. "Basically, I've spent six years trying to figure out why I did it. Why I went outta my way to ruin this thing that I loved, and that I grew up dreaming of having--a life in the Broadway theater. And after all these years of thinking about it, I still have no idea--but I do know how I did it. Because it wasn't the wild drinking, or the cocaine years. I know plenty of other people who fucked up big, but came back and started over again.

"No, what did me in was my insanity with money; I was a complete and total sieve financially. I threw gas bills into the garbage because I couldn't be bothered to pay 'em, and--and took five, six people to dinner every night, people I barely knew half the time. Wherever I went, I hadda be the premium player, slipping a fifty to the maitre d' to make sure I got the check, and pitching a holy stink if somebody beat me to it. Never once did I think about saving some dough, because I'd always think the hell with it--I'll just go out and make more."

And so, he said, what he'd come here for was some help in getting to the bottom of it; figuring out why he went through all that money as if he had no right to it. In a way, it was almost moot now, as he'd been broke for five years, and was no sure bet to be flush again soon. But if he could just understand this one compulsion, this crazy impulse to give it all away, then maybe, just maybe, he could get some sleep again. And that would be payoff enough for him.

Lathon thanked Jack for getting the group started, and applauded his gutsy candor. It was hard enough telling your story to strangers, let alone do so in a way that made sense to them. But beyond that, Jack had told the truth as well as the facts, conveyed a clear understanding of what it was like to be in his skin. That was a lot to ask for, right out of the gate. Archly, Lathon hoped it would inspire the others.

At this, Sara let out a laugh that surprised everyone.

"Um, well, I wouldn't say 'inspire' as much as it scared the hell out of me," she groaned. "I mean, do we really have to tell our life story in one sitting? Me, I can't remember five minutes ago, let alone five years."

Reprinted from GROUP by Paul Solotaroff by permission of Riverhead Books, a member of Penguin Putnam Inc. Copyright © 1999 by Paul Solotaroff. All rights reserved. This excerpt, or any parts thereof, may not be reproduced in any form without permission.