Allan Appel, born in Chica­go and raised in Los Ange­les, is a prize-win­ning nov­el­ist and play­wright whose books include The Book of Nor­man,Club Rev­e­la­tion, High Hol­i­day Sutra, win­ner of a Barnes and Noble Dis­cov­er Great New Writ­ers Award, and The Rab­bi of Casi­no Boule­vard, a final­ist for the Nation­al Jew­ish Book Award.