In Salthill-on-Hudson, a half-hour train ride from Manhattan, everyone is rich, beautiful, and - though they look much younger - middle-aged. But when Adam Berendt, a charismatic, mysterious sculptor, dies suddenly in a brash act of heroism, shock waves rock the town. But who was Adam Berendt? Was he in fact a hero, or someone more flawed and human? | Middle Age: A Romance by JOYCE CAROL OATES, Paperback | Indigo Chapters