Description

Frank Bascombe has a younger girlfriend and a job as a sportswriter. To many men of his age, thirty-eight, this would be a cause for optimism, yet Frank feels the pull of his inner despair and especially of his recent losses – his preferred career has ended, his wife has divorced him, and a tragic accident took his elder son. In the course of this Easter weekend, Frank will lose all the remnants of his familiar life, though he will emerge heroic with spirits soaring. This is a magnificent novel that propelled Richard Ford into the first rank of American writers.

Publisher Review

'Masterly ... moving ... This remarkable elegiac novel contemplates the desperate sadness of life with a profound, and humorous, dignity. It is an original and admirable achievement' Evening Standard 'Richard Ford is a daring and intelligent novelist with an extraordinary ear for dialogue and the ability to create everyday life with stunning accuracy' New York Times Book Review 'Richard Ford's sportswriter is a bird rare in life and nearly extinct in fiction' Tobias Wolff 'Riveting reading ... a memorable book' Observer