An effervescent debut novel about living the American dream . . . in reverse.

Light streams through the generous windows as the espresso machine roars. A gorgeous, rich scent fills the air. Witty conversation unspools over the porcelain cups, and leisurely wellbeing abounds.

That's the café dream. Mark and Nina are about to experience the reality. Aspiring intellectuals, they are determined to abandon their dull careers and re-create the perfect Viennese coffeehouse on New York's gritty but hip Lower East Side. Armed with lots of attitude, zero common sense, and the world's most expensive espresso machine, they descend on the neighborhood to educate the locals on authentic café culture. What follows is a brutal and hilarious downward spiral that will strip Mark and Nina of money, friends, sex life, status, shelter, and finally, sanity - and offer salvation through something they had never experienced: failure.

Inspired by the author's own coffeehouse hell, Ground Up is a smart and funny portrait of a New York in the constant act of reinventing itself, and a surprisingly tender story of falling out of love and back into it.