Inscribed by husband and wife Jules Feiffer and Jenny Allen on the title page. The inscription is dated "Nov: 06" one month after publication.

Here are three delightful, bittersweet, especially-for-our-time adult stories of modern life as lived by men and women of a certain age: the baby boomer. Jenny Allen's brilliant and witty narratives and Jules Feiffer's playfully expressive drawings coax to the surface the hidden anxieties, familiar frustrations, and downright fury that we try to convince ourselves we don't really feel. The characters in these stories are reckoning with life's little surprises. But what they don't expect sometimes turns out to be all right anyway: a little redemption bubbling up in the kitchen where "Judy's Wonder Chili" is made... or hiding in the folds of an origami crane, waiting to be found by the children's book writer in "Something Happened"... or revealing itself on the surface of the well-used chalkboard of the title tale.

In their humor, simplicity, and subtlety, these stories--brought to life perfectly through Feiffer's drawings--speak to our deepest adult-yet-childlike selves. There's not a grown-up among us who won't be completely charmed.

From Booklist:

Renowned cartoonist and children's book author Feiffer shares billing with his wife, journalist and stand-up comedienne Allen, in a trio of charming stories for adults. "The Long Chalkboard" is about the whim of two parents who need to cover a long wall and provide a scribbling surface for their children after moving into a new home. As the home passes on to successive owners, the chalkboard becomes fertile ground for, first, a math prodigy and then a budding film director, whose storyboard sketches later hang in the Smithsonian and ultimately comfort a lonely widow. "What Happened" follows the fortunes of a stuffy children's book author who accuses a fellow writer of plagiarism, and "Judy's Wonder Chili" recounts the misadventures of an amateur chef whose deliciously healing chili undergoes an unpleasant transformation when it catches the attention of the media and politicians. Allen's insightful, uplifting tales are perfectly complemented by Feiffer's wry charcoal, pencil, and wash sketches, which imbue the collection with the flavor of contemporary fables.