
This Book Will Save Your Life
(2006)A novel by
A M Homes
AwardsThe Richard and Judy Best Read of the Year (nominee)
| "I think this brave story of a lost man's reconnection with the world could become a generational touchstone, like Catch-22, The Monkey Wrench Gang, or The Catcher in the Rye. There is a lot of uplift here, but Homes's deadpan delivery keeps it from feeling greeting-card phony. So does the novel's ambience, which is 21st-century L.A. weird. And hey, maybe it will save somebody's life." Stephen King |
From the author of Music for Torching--an uplifting and apocalyptic tale set in Los Angeles about one man's efforts to bring himself back to life
Since her debut in 1989, A. M. Homes has been among the boldest and most original voices of her generation, acclaimed for the psychological accuracy and unnerving emotional intensity of her storytelling. Her keen ability to explore how extraordinary the ordinary can be is at the heart of her touching and funny new novel, her first in six years.
Richard Novak is a modern-day Everyman, a middle-aged divorcé trading stocks out of his home. He has done such a good job getting his life under control that he needs no one--except his trainer, nutritionist, and housekeeper. He is functionally dead and doesn't even notice until two incidents--an attack of intense pain that lands him in the emergency room, and the discovery of an expanding sinkhole outside his house--conspire to hurl him back into the world. On his way home from the hospital, Richard forms the first of many new relationships: He meets Anhil, the doughnut shop owner, an immigrant who dreams big. He finds a weeping housewife in the produce section of the supermarket, helps save a horse that has fallen into the sinkhole, daringly rescues a woman from the trunk of her kidnapper's car, and, after the sinkhole claims his house and he has to relocate to a Malibu rental, he befriends a reluctant counterculture icon. In the end, Richard is also brought back in closer touch with his family--his aging parents, his brilliant brother, the beloved ex-wife whom he still desires, and finally, before the story's breathtaking finale, with his estranged son Ben.
The promised land of Los Angeles--a surreal city of earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, and feral Chihuahuas--is also very much a character in This Book Will Save Your Life. A vivid, revealing novel about compassion, transformation, and what can happen if you are willing to lose yourself and open up to the world around you, it should significantly broaden Homes's already substantial audience.
Since her debut in 1989, A. M. Homes has been among the boldest and most original voices of her generation, acclaimed for the psychological accuracy and unnerving emotional intensity of her storytelling. Her keen ability to explore how extraordinary the ordinary can be is at the heart of her touching and funny new novel, her first in six years.
Richard Novak is a modern-day Everyman, a middle-aged divorcé trading stocks out of his home. He has done such a good job getting his life under control that he needs no one--except his trainer, nutritionist, and housekeeper. He is functionally dead and doesn't even notice until two incidents--an attack of intense pain that lands him in the emergency room, and the discovery of an expanding sinkhole outside his house--conspire to hurl him back into the world. On his way home from the hospital, Richard forms the first of many new relationships: He meets Anhil, the doughnut shop owner, an immigrant who dreams big. He finds a weeping housewife in the produce section of the supermarket, helps save a horse that has fallen into the sinkhole, daringly rescues a woman from the trunk of her kidnapper's car, and, after the sinkhole claims his house and he has to relocate to a Malibu rental, he befriends a reluctant counterculture icon. In the end, Richard is also brought back in closer touch with his family--his aging parents, his brilliant brother, the beloved ex-wife whom he still desires, and finally, before the story's breathtaking finale, with his estranged son Ben.
The promised land of Los Angeles--a surreal city of earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, and feral Chihuahuas--is also very much a character in This Book Will Save Your Life. A vivid, revealing novel about compassion, transformation, and what can happen if you are willing to lose yourself and open up to the world around you, it should significantly broaden Homes's already substantial audience.
Similar Books by other authors...
Used availability for A M Homes's This Book Will Save Your Life
See all available used copies of this book at: Abebooks UK or Abebooks US
Hardback Editions
June 2006 : Hardback
| Title: This Book Will Save Your Life Author(s): A.M. Homes ISBN: 1-86207-848-3 / 9781862078482 (UK edition) Publisher: Granta Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
April 2006 : Hardback
| Title: This Book Will Save Your Life Author(s): A. M. Homes ISBN: 0-670-03493-2 / 978-0-670-03493-2 (USA, AU, or UK edition) Publisher: Viking Adult Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
Paperback Editions
March 2008 : Paperback
| Title: This Book Will Save Your Life Author(s): a M Homes ISBN: 0-14-303874-5 / 978-0-14-303874-0 (UK edition) Publisher: Granta Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK Amazon CA More details... |
February 2007 : Paperback
| Title: This Book Will Save Your Life Author(s): A.M. Homes ISBN: 1-86207-976-5 / 9781862079762 (UK edition) Publisher: Granta Bks. Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
January 2007 : Paperback
| Title: This Book Will Save Your Life Author(s): A.M. Homes ISBN: 1-86207-933-1 / 9781862079335 (UK edition) Publisher: Granta Books Availability: Amazon Amazon UK More details... |
Audio Editions
February 2007 : Audio CD
| Title: This Book Will Save Your Life Author(s): A.M. Homes ISBN: 1-4055-0279-7 / 978-1-4055-0279-5 (UK edition) Publisher: Hachette Audio Availability: Amazon UK More details... |
© 2008 FantasticFiction
Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please email webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk
Questions? Comments? Corrections? Please email webmaster@fantasticfiction.co.uk
