Exley
By Brock Clarke
(Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill, Hardcover, 9781565126084, 303pp.)
Publication Date: October 2010
Categories: General
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Selected by Indie Booksellers for the November 2010 Indie Next List“If you like a book featuring an unreliable narrator, you have found it. Miller is nine years old and struggling with the disappearance of his father, who may or may not have joined the army and gone to Iraq. Miller's 'mental health professional' strains the definition of the title 'professional.' Miller's mother is bitter and quite sure that joining the military is the last thing her husband would have done. And then there's Frederick Exley, who inhabits the novel through the relationship each of these characters has with his book, A Fan's Notes. Even if, like me, you have never read A Fan's Notes, you will feel rewarded by this smart and moving novel.”
-- Stan Hynds, Northshire Bookstore, Manchester Center, VT
Description
For nine-year-old Miller, who lives with his mother in Watertown, New York, life has become a struggle to make sense of his father 's disappearance, for which he blames himself. Then, when he becomes convinced that he has found his father lying comatose in the local VA hospital, a victim of the war in Iraq, Miller begins a search for the one person he believes can save him, the famously reclusive and, unfortunately, dead Frederick Exley, a Watertown native and the author of his father 's favorite book, the fictional memoir "A Fan 's Notes." The story of Miller 's search, told by both Miller himself and his somewhat flaky therapist, ultimately becomes an exploration of the difference between what we believe to be real and what is in fact real, and how challenging it can be to reconcile the two.
Part literary satire, part mystery, "Exley" unleashes the enormous talent of a writer whom critics have compared to Richard Ford and John Irving and whose work has been called absurdly hilarious ("Entertainment Weekly") and wildly entertaining ("Daily Candy").
Part literary satire, part mystery, "Exley" unleashes the enormous talent of a writer whom critics have compared to Richard Ford and John Irving and whose work has been called absurdly hilarious ("Entertainment Weekly") and wildly entertaining ("Daily Candy").
This book is on these lists:
Ava Reign's Wish List by Ava ReignSJW's Wish List by SJW
ToB 2011 Long List by alapine
Toribarnes's Wish List by toribarnes
2010 3 by jewelxyxet
Abralodge's Wish List by abralodge
Nolaturk's Wish List by nolaturk
List 2 by sdunbar12
Jmthorne's Wish List by jmthorne
Lulu's Wish List by lulu
All lists >>
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Flight Behavior Barbara Kingsolver Harper |
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The Art Forger Barbara Shapiro Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill |
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Sweeth Tooth Ian McEwan Nan A. Talese |
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The Light Between Oceans ML Steadman Scribner |
