Let Me Be Frank With You - Hardcover

Ford, Richard

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1443437352 ISBN 13: 9781443437356

Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers, 2014

Synopsis

A quartet of masterful novellas that returns Richard Ford to the territory that sealed his reputation as an American master: the life of Frank Bascombe, hero of his Pulitzer Prize-winning novel Independence Day.

Richard Ford introduced the world to his protean literary everyman, Frank Bascombe, aspiring novelist turned sportswriter turned real estate agent, in his 1986 masterpiece The Sportswriter. A lapidary account of the textures, sorrows and pleasures of one man's ordinary life, it laid the groundwork for the Pulitzer Prize-winning Independence Day, published in 1996, followed by the last novel in the Bascombe trilogy, The Lay of the Land, published in 2006. Over a period of twenty years, the Bascombe novels deepened a portrait of one of the most unforgettable characters in American fiction, and in so doing gave readers an indelible portrait of America. Now in Let Me Be Frank With You, Ford returns to the territory that established him as an Updike for the contemporary era, in a quartet of novella-length Bascombe stories, set in in the aftermath and amid the calamitous circumstances of Hurricane Sandy.

Of revisiting Bascombe, Ford says, "What draws me to writing Frank Bascombe is what's always drawn me: he's funny (and it's thrilling to write things that are funny), but also he offers me the chance to write into the breach between what Henry James calls 'bliss and bale'; in my own way, to connect 'the things that help and the things that hurt' and to find some kind of reconciling vocabulary for both. I always think that, when I'm writing Frank Bascombe, I have the chance to write about the most important things I know, and that's always been irresistible."

A moving, peerlessly funny odyssey through America and through the layered consciousness of one of its most compelling literary incarnations, the four stories in Let Me Be Frank With You bear Bascombe's unmistakable and now-famous imprint: a comic sensibility at odds with the minutiae of everyday human dismay and bewilderment; a plain-spoken acuity penetrating and expressing the shared wonder of modern existence; and a mordant relish and caution for all things American.

About this title

Review:

An Amazon Best Book of the Month, November 2014: It’s been eight years since we last saw Frank Bascombe, successfully selling real estate in New Jersey, easing into his mid-50s at the conclusion of Richard Ford’s celebrated trilogy (The Sportswriter, Independence Day, and The Lay of the Land). Ford clearly had more to say about his man Frank. In the four connected novellas that comprise the touching and humorous Let Me Be Frank With You —like a coda to the trilogy—we see Frank confronting his aging self and, at the same time, a New Jersey coastline recently ravaged by Hurricane Sandy. In some ways, he’s the same old Frank: an admitted “malcontent,” cranky and kvetching, but funny and, mostly, a good guy. Speaking of being frank, I must admit: as a fan of the trilogy (especially the first two), I was doubtful that I’d care about the first-world problems of rich and retired Frank Bascombe, now on the verge of 70. But there’s a creeping sadness that infuses these stories, and a little bit of rage, as in raging against the dying light. Frank is successful, but he doesn’t seem all that satisfied. Friendship is overrated, he claims. “None of us... are really designed to have that many friends.” It’s touching and at times moving to watch Frank both resist and acknowledge “death’s processional onset ... the final, thrilling dips of the roller coaster.” In the end, the ride of life is often a waiting game. Says Frank: “Time fixes things, mostly.” --Neal Thompson

From the Back Cover:

In his trio of critically acclaimed, bestselling novels, Richard Ford illuminated the zeitgeist of an entire generation through the divinings and wit of his now-famous literary chronicler, Frank Bascombe—one of the most indelible and provocative characters in modern American literature. 

In Let Me Be Frank With You, Ford returns with four deftly linked stories narrated by the iconic Bascombe. Now sixty-eight and living in a New Jersey suburb, Frank has thrived—seemingly if not utterly—in the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy’s devastation. 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. 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. 

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins Publishers
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 1443437352
• ISBN 13: 9781443437356
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 256