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Ruth Bonapace’s comic novel The Bulgarian Training Manual is an Elle Magazine 2024 top summer read. Publishers Weekly calls it a “whimsical delight,” while Kirkus Reviews says it is “an absurd romp through modern culture.” 

Ruth earned her MFA from Stony Brook University after a career in journalism, including two years covering pro sports. Easily bored, she also ran a laundromat in Jersey City, sold real estate, edited a women’s magazine, became a gym rat, got her teeth straightened and raised three children, including one adopted from Vietnam. She went to an all-girls Catholic school, where she was the star trumpet player and perfected the art of lampooning nuns.

Her work has appeared in many publications including The New York Times, Newsday, The Southampton Review and The Saturday Evening Post. She is a two-time finalist in the annual American Writer’s Review. This is her first novel.