The News Where You Are

Oct 14, 2012 Mirakissanpoika rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

One of the worst books I have ever read. I don't get the point of the whole book. Why even bother writing it? It's about nothing. There's no story and the book just keeps repeating itself. After finishing this complete waste of time, I felt cheated. I wanted to contact the author and demand compensation for my time wasted.

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Jul 24, 2011 Jayne Charles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed Catherine O’Flynn’s first novel ‘What Was Lost’ so much I bought this one without so much as reading the synopsis. I didn’t think it was quite up to the standards of that first novel, but I enjoyed it all the same. It had a similar feel – as though a novel had been constructed around a series of comic set-pieces. A gentle sort of story, it will be bubbling along in a nondescript sort of way and suddenly out of the blue will come an acutely observed detail or a really really good joke.

T...more

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Jun 10, 2011 Ali rated it 4 of 5 stars

Having enjoyed Catherine O 'Flynn's first novel so much, I was really looking forward to this. I wasn't disappointed.

Catherine O' Flynn has written a novel that is both entertaining and thought provoking. Peopled with authentic, well drawn, sometimes very funny characters. Frank a middle aged local news presenter is an unambitious family man who concerns himself with the sad, lonely deaths of people he didn't know. Frank pays the rather pathetic Cyril to write terrible one liners for him that h...more

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Feb 08, 2011 Jason Pettus rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

(Reprinted from the Chicago Center for Literature and Photography [cclapcenter.com]. I am the original author of this essay, as well as the owner of CCLaP; it is not being reprinted illegally.)

Although everything about it screams "pleasantly middlebrow British character dramedy," readers of the Booker-nominated Catherine O'Flynn's latest, The News Where You Are, should brace themselves for something a lot darker and more depressing; for in telling this story of an aging local TV news anchor, who...more

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Jan 24, 2011 Andrew Smith rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

If there were a movement similar to the food lovers’ Slow Food movement for book readers, author Catherine O'Flynn would definitely be a leading member. The Slow Reading movement would celebrate ingredients such as solid, traditional writing that is in no way flashy or trendy, but that leisurely cooks up an engaging and rewarding book using relaxed but excellent character development and employing skilful and plausible plots.
O’Flynn also manages to season her books with totally palatable sprink...more If there were a movement similar to the food lovers’ Slow Food movement for book readers, author Catherine O'Flynn would definitely be a leading member. The Slow Reading movement would celebrate ingredients such as solid, traditional writing that is in no way flashy or trendy, but that leisurely cooks up an engaging and rewarding book using relaxed but excellent character development and employing skilful and plausible plots.
O’Flynn also manages to season her books with totally palatable sprinklings of large social issues. In the case of her first book, 'What Was Lost' (winner of the prestigious Costa First Novel Prize in UK and long listed for both the Man Booker Prize and the Orange Prize), the big issue was the troubling anonymity of many people in modern society, the disadvantaged in particular, especially in the context of large-scale urban landscapes. Buildings and town centres of an inhuman scale are also a recurring theme in 'The News Where You Are,' but the larger issue in O’Flynn’s second book is ageing. Anonymity also features again, but in this book it rears its ugly head when people are forgotten after their perceived usefulness has run its course.
The main protagonist in 'The News From Here' is a reflective forty-something TV newscaster, Frank, who is understandably preoccupied with death and ageing. His predecessor at the television station died in a hit and run when on the verge of retirement and his mother appears to be fading away in a featureless retirement home. When Frank reports on an apparently friendless widower who is found dead on a roadside bench, he becomes determined not to let the man go unremembered. In the process of his investigations and as the plot thickens, Frank gradually emerges as a totally sympathetic character, as do his patient wife and live-wire of a young daughter, Mo.
But all is not doom and gloom, O’Flynn gives Frank’s self-pitying mother some wonderful zingers. When Mo tells her grandmother that she’s been looking for fossils with no success, Frank’s mother tells the young girl to come to the retirement residence where she can find fossils eating in the dining room every day of the week. O’Flynn also wittily and effectively mines the comedic aspects of value placed on appearance that is part and parcel of being a television personality.
O’Flynn’s writing isn’t for everyone. If you prefer fast-paced action, plots with startling 180-degree turns, or zippy repartee, this book is not for you. But if you like characters who come to feel like old friends and physical descriptions that slowly but surely place you in a reassuringly distinctive, if dreary, landscape I predict you’ll love 'The News From Here.'
If I have any reservations at all, it's that the final plot revelation seemed a little bit of a stretch, but it's a very small quibble.
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Nov 13, 2010 Tiffany Cole rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The News Where You Are" by Catherine O' Flynn

"The News Where You Are" starts with a walk, a revelation, and a death. Six months later, Frank and Mo, his eight year old daughter, visit the building that Frank's father designed, the building that will soon be demolished. Frank takes a picture of Mo standing in front of the building in an effort to prove, if even just to himself, that the building will be remembered.

This pattern of Frank feeling the need to remember the forgotten appears in almos...more

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Jul 23, 2010 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemporary-fiction

I was a big fan of O'Flynn's debut novel, What Was Lost, so I eagerly anticipated her second novel. Although not quite as satisfying as What Was Lost, The News Where You Are was a thoroughly enjoyable and satisfying read--combining humor with affecting examinations into the nature of loss.

Loss is a major theme in this book, as it was with her first novel. In this book, our "hero" Frank Allcroft is dealing with loss on all sorts of levels--the loss of his architect father's buildings (which are b...more

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May 07, 2010 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The News Where You Are, by Catherine O'Flynn, begins as a gentle character study of an aging news anchor, popular to viewers but something of a joke to his colleagues. Off the air, Frank Allcroft spends his time obsessively analyzing parts of his life: the legacy of his deceased father, his depressed mother, and his unfulfilling job. After the death of a close friend, he suddenly feels untethered and lost. To ease his conscience about the superficial nature of his job, Frank makes a habit of ta...more
The News Where You Are, by Catherine O'Flynn, begins as a gentle character study of an aging news anchor, popular to viewers but something of a joke to his colleagues. Off the air, Frank Allcroft spends his time obsessively analyzing parts of his life: the legacy of his deceased father, his depressed mother, and his unfulfilling job. After the death of a close friend, he suddenly feels untethered and lost. To ease his conscience about the superficial nature of his job, Frank makes a habit of taking a personal interest in news stories that feature abandoned people. He explores parts of his town, old and new, and watches the march of time and its effects on the inhabitants and their attitudes. He visits the graves of those who die nameless or unloved, and in this he becomes involved in a mystery that actually wraps around his own obsessions with the past.

It’s at this point that the novel, set in small town England, becomes far less simple or gentle. By searching the themes of abandonment, the race of time, and the nature of friendship, the author creates a suspenseful, if untraditional, thriller that leaves you pondering how much of what we know-whether about friends or family-is actually real.

A main theme in Frank’s life is his late father, an architect, who was usually absent; Frank had consoled himself as a child by imagining that his father sacrificed his family for a greater good. His belief system is reevaluated when the buildings end up demolished. “As his buildings were bulldozed, one by one, Frank began to suspect that often what vanished revealed more than what remained.” His mother finds the demolition far easier to bear, and in most ways she is able to move forward despite her age and depression. She chides Frank: “Everything was a memento for you. Everything reminded you of something. Nothing was allowed to be forgotten. I can’t imagine anything worse”

Catherine O’Flynn writes in a beautiful prose that alternates between bitter and sweet, comical and tragic. At times she illustrates the pain involved in the most personal of disappointments without overwrought emotion. I appreciated that while Frank, the protagonist, is pensive, he never descends into the maudlin or pathetic. He still manages to go through his life with responsibility and acuity. Modern fiction is populated with plenty of self-absorbed and despondent characters, lost in messes of their own design. This novel is refreshing because Frank doesn’t fit that cliché; he keeps functioning and proactive, despite his inclinations to dwell in the past.

The denouement of the novel is complicated, and I won’t spoil it here. Much must be said, though, about O’Flynn’s fascinating voice and style of description as embodied in Frank. When Frank visits a dead man’s house, one who died alone and unknown, he imagines him “…diligently cleaning a house that would only be visited by strangers after his death. He thought squalor would have been less sad.” Or when observing a mental hospital converted into condos, he muses “who would choose to live in a place of former suffering? What level of hubris was required to feel so utterly undaunted by the past?” Lines like those stopped me in my tracks, wondering how a mystery novel could be so deep and relevant and still retain its suspense.
The mystery is a introspective read, and it left me pondering more about the people I know who are alone, who appear to be lost, and in comparison those who seem to have it all. This novel reveals that nothing is so simple as appearances. In all, I'd say this in the top five of books I've read in the last several years...it's that good.
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Aug 02, 2010 Kasa Cotugno rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: vine, location-europe-britain-scotland

How quickly the present becomes the past. How often do we truly enjoy the moment we're living in, appreciate the present, without gazing back in longing, ahead in fear or hope. This is a book about nostalgia, about longing for a past that never really existed. The past only seems better than the present because it is irretrievable. Near the end of the book, Frank tells his daughter that when you're young, life is all in the future; when youre old, it's all in the past. From the wisdom of her eig...more

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Aug 21, 2010 Blodeuedd Finland rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

Catherine O'Flynn is a great writer, she transforms small things into a good piece of fiction. Nothing major happened, but there was great writing, and I do like great writing.

This is the story about Frank, a news anchor who has been in the business for 20 years. He likes where he is and never wanted to be bigger. He is also a joke, a man famous for bad one-liners. Something that he inherited from his mentor and friend, but he never did get them right. Now Phil is dead, in a strange accident. An...more Catherine O'Flynn is a great writer, she transforms small things into a good piece of fiction. Nothing major happened, but there was great writing, and I do like great writing.

This is the story about Frank, a news anchor who has been in the business for 20 years. He likes where he is and never wanted to be bigger. He is also a joke, a man famous for bad one-liners. Something that he inherited from his mentor and friend, but he never did get them right. Now Phil is dead, in a strange accident. And Frank is left with his strange hobby as his wife calls is, going to funerals of people who had no one else coming.

Frank is a good guy, he likes his job (ok not the crap jokes), but he is a solid guy. He loves his wife and cute little daughter. And he searches for lost relatives for those people who have died without any family showing up. His mum seems constantly depressed, but he visits her. But there is something sad over him, perhaps cos if his search through out the book. But that will change too.

The book uses flashbacks to show some clues, Michaels past (the guy whose relatives he is trying to find), some moments from Phil's past, before his death and earlier, and lastly Frank's past. His dad who was always working and his mum who had good and bad days.

Life in general, and a search for that which is lost is what this book is about. From people gone, to his dad's buildings being torn down to make new for new ones. And the last sentence of the book tells you everything:
"Our absence is what remains of us."

It's beautiful and sad at the same time.

She has a way of telling is straight, but there is also a subtle humour in this book. A strange book, and a completely normal book at the same time. What I am left with is that she writes great fiction, easy fiction, and fiction that should be noticed.

Final thoughts: I do like my genres, and sometimes I need an author who can write beautiful prose, saying a lot, or saying nothing, and she is good. I sometimes like books cos of the story, sometimes for the written word, and this time it was the latter.
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Apr 26, 2011 Gerald Sinstadt rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-general

In an afterword, Catherine O'Flynn carefully (and prudently, no doubt) disclaims any possible relationship between the regional television news programme in her book and the one that is seen by Midland viewers. But the targets she hits with some precision are easily recognised: we are not quite in 'Cat rescued from a Tree in Dudley" territory but close enough.

In the early pages the gentle fun is amusing. Frank, the anchor who is never going to make the break on to national screens, has his coun...more

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Nov 26, 2010 Meg rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sent-for-review, read-in-2010, literary-fiction

Frank Allcroft is a middle-aged television reporter for Heart Of England Reports, a British news program. Content with life alongside his loving wife, Andrea, and their young daughter Mo, Frank enjoys his work but can't shake an endless nagging at the back of his head: the guilt he feels over his mother, Maureen, depressed and living in a senior facility. Frank's father, a renowned architect, constructed many buildings in Birmingham prior to his death -- but slowly, one by one, the city is now t...more Frank Allcroft is a middle-aged television reporter for Heart Of England Reports, a British news program. Content with life alongside his loving wife, Andrea, and their young daughter Mo, Frank enjoys his work but can't shake an endless nagging at the back of his head: the guilt he feels over his mother, Maureen, depressed and living in a senior facility. Frank's father, a renowned architect, constructed many buildings in Birmingham prior to his death -- but slowly, one by one, the city is now tearing them down.

Left only with a bitterly unhappy mom and sinking beneath the weight of his father's long-past inattention, Frank develops a morbid obsession with the subjects of many of his news items: locals who died alone, only to be discovered days -- or weeks -- after their passing by the odd passerby. Saddened that anyone should reach the end of life in solitary confinement, Frank makes it his mission to attend the funerals of these people -- a pastime that bothers Andrea.

It's one such death that hits him more deeply than most: that of Michael Church, a man he immediately recognizes in a photo because of his large, piercing blue eyes. He turns out to be the childhood friend of Phil Smethway, legendary local TV personality and Frank's predecessor on Heart Of England Reports. Phil died mysteriously -- and not that recently. A victim of a hit-and-run. Michael was found dead, cold and alone on a park bench. And Frank is beginning to wonder if there may somehow be a connection.

Though it took me about twenty pages to get hooked on The News Where You Are, I had a tough time setting the book down after that. Frank was a lovable hero: serious, but not dryly so; a man who took his obligations seriously and dearly loved his family; a good friend, employee, husband and father. Centering around Frank and his attempts to unravel the life (and death) of Phil and his father, he's someone who immediately endeared himself to me. Prone to melancholy but desperately trying to fight it -- and I could relate to that.

The novel's strength really comes from its dark humor -- O'Flynn's ability to create comical characters like Cyril, a barely-working writer who supplies Frank with his famously corny on-air "jokes" (he pays a pound or two for each), and Walter, a fellow resident at Frank's mother's retirement home who won't let Maureen's bad moods dissuade him from befriending her. Sprinkled in is that trademark British sense of humor, which perfectly balances out the somber subject matter. A few one-liners actually had me giggling.

More than anything, though, I'm walking away from this one with a greater understanding of what it means for something to be permanent -- and what we leave behind as our legacy. Frank is obsessed with the fact that his father's Birmingham is being torn down and replaced by "modern" buildings. Talking about Michael Church, Frank says:

". . . When you go back and scratch at the surface you find the people who knew him and who he'd meant something to or who he impacted in some way. He left traces. Then at the other extreme there are people like my father who leave behind this very tangible, physical legacy. Concrete proof that he existed, but if all his buildings went, what traces of him would remain?"

O'Flynn's insights into life and death were thought-provoking and very affecting, and I may or may not have been the woman sitting in Panera crying into her tomato soup right before I finished the novel.

I could go on and on about this one, but I'll wrap it up: a moving, memorable novel about family, friendship and what we leave behind. Read it for the lyrical writing and unexpected levity; finish it for the mystery and complex, realistic and endearing characters.(less)

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Aug 27, 2012 Maria Carmo rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone

Shelves: novel-romance-revealing-historica

A melancholy, poignant book about feelings of inadequacy and the search for value in unknown lives. The main character lived through a childhood with a distant father, an architect who had built several ex-libris in Birmingham. His Mum went from "orange days" (having parties just the two of them and laughing together) to "purple days" of sadness and silence. Frank goes up to become a news anchor on a regional TV program, feeling more and more impressed by the numberless lives he perceives that g...more

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Aug 15, 2010 Anne rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I thought Catherine O Flynn's debut 'What Was Lost' was excellent and had looked forward to 'The News Where You Are' for a long time, expecting the same depth of character and slow pace as her first novel.

Sadly, I dont think that this one is anywhere near as good as the first. Although an easy enough read, I found it lacked suspense and the plot was just a little bit silly to be believable. One character stood out for me, that was Mo, the small daughter of Frank, the main character. Mo, like the...more

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Sep 08, 2010 Teresa rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Having thoroughly enjoyed What Was Lost, Catherine O'Flynn's award winning debut novel, I was really looking forward to this, her latest offering. Again it's a very British book, focussed on urban life in all its monochrome dullness but does it escape the curse of the second novel?

Our anti-hero of sorts is Frank Allcroft, presenter on a regional TV news programme. Frank seems quite accepting of his rather dull job presenting rather dull stories to an indifferent public. Ironically it is his "dul...more

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Mar 15, 2013 Ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: lib, 2013

Een vlot leesbaar boek over familie, vrienschap, het verleden en hoe dit ons vormt, over verlies,...

"Sommige mensen zeggen dat ze de aanwezigheid van de doden voelen.Ze merken dat er iets in de lucht verandert en ze weten dat hun dode echtgenoot naast hen staat,....., dat hun dode vrouw nog steeds met de berg strijkgoed worstelt.
Sins Elsies dood heeft hij haar aanwezigheid niet één keer gevoeld. Hij zag de laatste ademtocht haar lichaam verlaten en toen veranderde de wereld. Ze was er niet meer....more

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Aug 06, 2011 Jayne Charles rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed Catherine O’Flynn’s first novel ‘What Was Lost’ so much I bought this one without so much as reading the synopsis. I didn’t think it was quite up to the standards of that first novel, but I enjoyed it all the same. It had a similar feel – as though a novel had been constructed around a series of comic set-pieces. A gentle sort of story, it will be bubbling along in a nondescript sort of way and suddenly out of the blue will come an acutely observed detail or a really really good joke....more

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Oct 23, 2012 David rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

"The News Where You Are" is the latest novel from Catherine O'Flynne. We read her first novel "What Was Lost" for book club and it gained universal approval. Her new book is not quite up to the standard of her first, but that is not to say that it was not again a lovely read. It contains all the trade marks of her style, witty and profound.Again it is based in Birmingham where the main character, Frank Allcroft, presents the evening local news programme. He is haunted by the memories of his more...more

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Mar 06, 2012 Sally Whitehead rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: books-read-in-2012

Oh, the curse of the pesky "follow up to a stunning debut" troublesome second novel. Even if I were to judge this book without having read O'Flynn's remarkable first novel "What Was Lost" I'm afraid I think it would still average only a mediocre 3 star rating.

Don't get me wrong it's a good book, with some lighthearted satire about the changing landscape and social culture of a city (its depiction of Birmingham is pitch perfect, but thematically, it could be anywhere).

But it's missing something...more

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Oct 31, 2012 Sarah rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I enjoyed this book but it left me feeling rather melancholy, I think I identified too much with Frank and got caught up in his slow, considered way of thinking and living. Now and again I felt the need to get up and run round in circles to reactivate myself.

The themes in the book are very subtly presented. What does it mean to be remembered after you are dead? Is that important? How do we as the living show our appreciation of the dead and the past they embody? How do we balance our attention...more

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May 29, 2010 Batsap rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: first-reads

I received this book from a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

When I first picked up this book, it was just to have a look through and read the first sentence, but an hour or so later I found myself still reading, completely immersed in the world O'Flynn had created. Her prose was engaging right from the first sentence, flowing along on a mixture of comedy and pathos. The writing was deceptively simple, belying the deep subject matter - namely an exploration of what remains behind after us when we...more I received this book from a Goodreads First Reads giveaway.

When I first picked up this book, it was just to have a look through and read the first sentence, but an hour or so later I found myself still reading, completely immersed in the world O'Flynn had created. Her prose was engaging right from the first sentence, flowing along on a mixture of comedy and pathos. The writing was deceptively simple, belying the deep subject matter - namely an exploration of what remains behind after us when we die.

Although death was always a presence in this novel, it never once became maudlin in tone. There was always the elements of comedy, reminding the reader that life is sometimes strange and sad, but we only get one and should try to enjoy our time; so I found overall that it was uplifting in its nature. The comedy was very good, I found myself laughing out loud at some points. If her character Frannk Allcroft has been dubbed the 'unfunniest man in Britain', I think O'Flynn should be crowned the 'funniest woman'.

This novel does start with a death, but it is written in more of a slice-of-life style, spending time on the characters and their development, rather than solving the mystery of the death. The truth is revealed in the end, but only through the characters learning about themselves and interacting with other characters. I thought it was very skilfu', the way in which little pieces of information slowly built up, finally coming together to explain the prologue.

The best thing about this novel for me was the characters - every single one of them was likable and I felt a connection with all of them. My favourite was probably Cyril, as his introduction made him seem a little sinister. The weakest character for me was Michael, as at times he seemed a little too perfect to be realistic, but I still liked him. I also loved Frank's bizarre little thought tangents, especially the one about his lookalike.

This was a wonderful novel that I think everyone should read, especially if they have found themselves feeling a little down and disillusioned by life.(less)

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May 08, 2011 Hayley rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, read-2011

Frank Allcroft is a regional news presenter, happily married with a daughter but he has a few things on his mind like the mysterious hit and run that killed his predecessor and his Father's buildings, which are being demolished one by one.

The cover of this book is striking. I really like the picture and the colouring.

The book is witty and humorous and the characters are instantly likeable but if you scratch the surface of the humour there is a more serious message underneath - what is our legacy...more

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Jul 26, 2010 Tattered Cover Book Store added it · review of another edition

Shelves: from-the-indienext-list, jackie-recommends, staff-recommends

Jackie says:

This is a little book, seemingly simple on its surface but deeply rich when you turn a closer eye to it. The surface is about Frank, a local British newscaster for a regional news show, and his reactions to the death of his famous predecessor, the demolition of some buildings his father spent his life designing, the reality of his depressed mother in a nursing home, and moving his family from the country to the city. But the undercurrent of it all deals with, essentially, what we do...more

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Aug 12, 2010 Alistair rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i enjoyed her debut novel " what was lost " and this has similarities in its themes , protagonists and setting .
O 'flynn is very good at the humdrum and the lives of little people ie ; most of us . she somehow manages to convey magic to the ordinary .
this is a sad melancholic tale of loss , the past , disappointment , getting old and suicide . do not read on a bleak November Sunday afternoon .
the writer is very good at depicting the hollow atmosphere of a modern town centre and as in her first n...more

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May 04, 2010 Jackie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: work-review-related-reading

This is a little book, seemingly simple on its surface but deeply rich when you turn a closer eye to it. The surface is about Frank, a local British newscaster for a regional news show, and his reactions to the death of his famous predecessor, the demolition of some buildings his father spent his life designing, the reality of his depressed mother in a nursing home, and moving his family from the country to the city. But the undercurrent of it all deals with, essentially, what we do with old thi...more

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May 16, 2013 Mimi rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I loved Catherine O'Flynn's What Was Lost. She writes so beautifully and though I didn't love this one as much, it's well worth reading. It's about a newscaster who feels compelled to recognize the deaths of people who appear to be all alone in the world. The death of his predecessor seems to be a notable exception, but he digs deeper anyway. It leads him to his colleague's best friend who doesn't feel his dead's wife presence.

"He feels her absence, though, all the time. It's there in specific t...more

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Dec 31, 2010 Lucy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Set in Birmingham, The News Where You Are tells the funny, touching story of Frank, a local TV news presenter. Beneath his awkwardly corny screen persona, Frank is haunted by disappearances: the mysterious hit and run that killed his predecessor Phil Smethway; the demolition of his father’s post-war brutalist architecture; and the unmarked passing of those who die alone in the city. Frank struggles to make sense of these absences while having to report endless local news stories of holes opening...more

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Feb 17, 2011 Jonathan rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, mystery

I listened to The News Where You Are as a book on tape and found it an excellent slice of life book. Not really much of a mystery, despite its nomination for an Edgar this year, it tells the story of a news anchor trying to figure out the somewhat puzzling death of a former co-worker who has gone on to bigger and better things. I really enjoyed the repartee, laughing out loud a few times. Frank, the protagonist, is just trying to figure things out. His 8 year old daughter is very precocious and

...more

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Feb 24, 2011 Karen rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really liked this book, and would have given it 3 1/2 stars if I could. I was immensely curious about the circumstances around Phil's death, which got me through some of the heaviness of the story. The writing was excellent and skilled, and the prose very enjoyable to read. I thought the main character, Frank, was well-developed, realistic, and likeable. My biggest disappointment was the poor character development of Mo and Andrea, who seem to represent the forces of stability and hope in the...more

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Jul 28, 2010 Dorie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Most stories follow a linear timeline outlining and then resolving a specific plot. If you’re lucky with your reading material, descriptive prose and interesting characters are included in the mix. This book was a bit different. It was primarily a character study of a man named Frank, a middle-aged TV newscaster who provides for his wife and young daughter, and regularly visits his depressive mother in a care facility. There is a bit of a story, but the timeline is sometimes scattered instead of...more

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