Let Me Be Frank With You: A Frank Bascombe Book: A Frank Bascombe Book

Author: Richard Ford

Stock information

General Fields

  • : $19.99 AUD
  • : 9781408853597
  • : Bloomsbury
  • : Bloomsbury Pb
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  • : 0.180076
  • : December 2015
  • : 198mm X 129mm
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  • : 19.99
  • : October 2015
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  • :
  • : books

Special Fields

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  • :
  • : Richard Ford
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  • : Paperback
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  • :
  • : English
  • : 813/.54
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Barcode 9781408853597
9781408853597

Description

A brilliant new work that returns Richard Ford to the celebrated fictional landscape that sealed his reputation as an American master: the world of Frank Bascombe


In his trio of critically acclaimed, bestselling novels--The Sportswriter, the Pulitzer Prize and PEN/ Faulkner-winning Independence Day, and The Lay of the Land--Richard Ford, in essence, illuminated the zeitgeist of an entire generation, through the divinings and wit of his now-famous literary chronicler, Frank Bascombe, who is certainly one of the most indelible, provocative, and anticipated characters in modern American literature.


Here, in Let Me Be Frank With You, Ford returns with four deftly linked stories narrated by the iconic Bascombe. Now sixty-eight, and again ensconced in the well-defended New Jersey suburb of Haddam, Bascombe has thrived--seemingly if not utterly--in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy's devastation. As in all of the Bascombe books, Ford's guiding spirit is the old comic's maxim that promises if nothing's funny, nothing's truly serious. The desolation of Sandy, which rendered houses, shorelines, and countless lives unmoored and flattened, could scarcely be more serious as the grist for fiction. Yet it is the perfect backdrop and touchstone for Ford--and Bascombe. With a flawless comedic sensibility and unblinking intelligence, these stories range over the full complement of American subjects: aging, race, loss, faith, marriage, redemption, the real-estate crash--the tumult of the world we live in.


Through Bascombe--wry, profane, touching, wise, and often inappropriate--we engage in the aspirations and sorrows, longings, achievements, and failings of American life in the morning of the new century. With his trademark candor and brimming wit, Richard Ford brings Bascombe fully back, in all his imperfect glory, to say (often hilariously) what all of us are thinking but few will voice aloud.


Whether you've been a Bascombe insider since The Sportswriter or are encountering Ford's unforgettable inventions newly here, Let Me Be Frank With You is a moving, wondrous, extremely funny odyssey, showcasing the maturity and brilliance of a great writer working at the top of his talents.

Promotion info

Richard Ford returns to the territory that sealed his reputation as a master: the world of Frank Bascombe

Reviews

Ford here is at the top of his form ... Stylish, elegiac and funny John Banville, Guardian Books of the Year Funny, touching and profound Financial Times Exquisitely written, surprising and heart-breaking ... This is a work of understated power, intelligence and not a little mischief Independent Another seemingly effortless Ford masterpiece Daily Mail A huge talent. There is no denying Frank Bascombe is in ripping form and reading this makes you want to return to the trilogy Irish Times Written in a fresh, graceful, accessible voice ... In the supple, thickly detailed Bascombe prose, shifting effortlessly from lyrical to vulgar in a sentence ... There are many small marvels Sunday Times

Author description

Richard Ford was born in Jackson, Mississippi in 1944. He has published eight novels and four collections of stories, including The Sportswriter, Independence Day, The Lay of the Land and, most recently, the New York Times bestseller, Canada. His novel, Independence Day, was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Fiction, the first time the same book had won both prizes. He lives in Maine, with his wife, Kristina Ford.