Monica Bauer loves to make people laugh, and think. A former college professor and Writing Fellow at Quinnipiac University, she has a variety of useless college degrees, including a BA from Brown, a graduate degree in religion from Yale, and last but certainly not least, an MA in Creative Writing from Boston University. She was adopted and raised as a Catholic kid in Omaha, Nebraska, but was delighted to discover through a recent DNA test that she is “extremely Jewish,” which, she insists, “explains everything.” Her comic novel “DNA, or The Book of Brad” was inspired by her discovery of Jewish relatives, including four entirely new brothers, all of whom are much nicer, smarter, and funnier than any characters in her fiction.

Monica’s first award as a writer was at age 19, winning the Prairie Schooner Fiction Prize for her first short story. She is best known as an award-winning playwright. Her most-produced play is “Vivian’s Music, 1969,” which has been produced internationally and all over the United States. The play made its first appearance Off Broadway at 59E59 Theaters in 2018. It is available from Original Works Publishing.

Her favorite comic writers are Christopher Moore (fiction) and Christopher Durang (playwriting). Dave Barry is on the list somewhere, along with David Sedaris. She is grateful for the support and occasional encouragement of her long-suffering husband Neil, and their grown daughter Joanna, neither of whom appear in this book in any way, shape, or form.