Schmidtberger, Paul (Paul S. Schmidtberger)

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Schmidtberger, Paul (Paul S. Schmidtberger)

PERSONAL:

Born in Schooley's Mountain, NJ. Education: Yale University, B.A.; Stanford University, J.D. Hobbies and other interests: Travel.

ADDRESSES:

Home—Paris, France. Agent—Marly Rusoff & Associates, 811 Palmer Rd., Ste. AA, Bronxville, NY 10708.

CAREER:

Writer. Attorney for ten years in San Francisco, CA, and Paris, France. Taught in Japan.

WRITINGS:

Design Flaws of the Human Condition (novel), Broadway Books (New York, NY), 2007.

SIDELIGHTS:

Paul Schmidtberger was born in Schooley's Mountain, New Jersey. He earned an undergraduate degree in East Asian Studies from Yale University, then spent some time teaching in Japan before going on to study law at Stanford. Schmidtberger took a job with a law firm in San Francisco, and eventually relocated to his firm's office in Paris, France. He was living and working in Paris when the firm decided to terminate his employment, and he found himself unemployed, abroad, and undecided as to what he should try next. Ultimately, his situation provided the inspiration, and he began to write his first book, a novel titled Design Flaws of the Human Condition.

According to the author's Web site, the idea for Design Flaws of the Human Condition came to Schmidtberger while he was waiting to use a restroom downstairs from the Paris bar where he was spending happy hour. The person using the facilities ahead of him was taking a long time to emerge, and Schmidtberger realized that in France, the light switches for the restrooms are typically located outside the door. Schmidtberger turned off the light inside the restroom, and this proved effective in convincing the person using the facilities to finish and exit in a more timely manner. The experience set Schmidtberger thinking about the placement of the light switch, which he considered a design flaw, and how design flaws might be applied to people as well as to things. This spark of an idea led to a more fleshed-out plot based on characters suffering from design flaws, and Schmidtberger began to write his first novel.

Set in New York, Design Flaws of the Human Condition centers around two couples and their struggles regarding love and infidelity. The main protagonists are Ken and Iris, the former newly single and the latter might soon be single, whose reactions to situations in their lives lead them to the same anger management program. The two become good friends as they help each other deal with their romantic relationships.

A reviewer for Publishers Weekly commented that "the narrative suffers from a surfeit of trite dialogue," but concluded that overall the author "handles his characters with a sympathetic grace." A contributor for Kirkus Reviews was less impressed with Schmidtberger's effort, calling the book "a story which offers less entertainment than it realizes." However, J.M. Cornwell, in a review for the Celebrity Café Web site, praised Schmidtberger's debut, remarking that "he peels away the characters' layers with humor and pathos in equal measure, offering an optimistic glimpse of the human potential for change and adaptation."