This Book Will Save Your Life

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Through the course of the novel Richard makes several new male friends, including Anhil and Nic. How do men make friendships as adults and is that an easy or a hard thing for them to do? Wonderfully skewed stories . . . sharp, funny, and playful . . . Homes is confident and consistent in her odd departures from life as we know it, sustaining credibility by getting details right. A fully engaged imagination [is] at work—and play.”—Amy Hempel, The Los Angeles Times Yet, through all this you see him struggle with himself. His fear of dying, of not being a better son, brother, husband, father. This is what makes me just want to be in his presence, like maybe I’d catch some of what he is. I’d be tempted to use the word ‘aura’ but it might just be the Californian influence within the book, This is what made me hate to see the book end. An absolute masterpiece . . . Homes writes ecstatically, and like no one else.”– The Philadelphia Inquirer

Throughout the book we see Richard come to life, and there is some nice writing in their about the nature of suffering:There’s this great scene towards the end. Richard takes his 17 yr. old estranged son to DisneyLand. You can see that Ben is fighting something, trying to recapture some sense of his lost childhood. He’s fighting with his father, yelling at him while riding the teacups or waiting for Space Mountain and Richard is taking it, feeling like he deserves it. Ben’s trying to work out all these emotions, worried about an expiration date or something---afraid to see this day end. And there’s this scene:

Richard’s son, Ben, has been deeply affected by his father’s absence in his life. Discuss the ways in which their relationship evolves during Ben’s time in Malibu. This one made me stop and think. It made me seriously reflect about decisions I have made in my life and the impact my actions had on others, such as my kids. Sure, we sometimes think about these things, BUT this book made me REALLY think about it, wallow in it, really think of the consequences of my actions. To be sad in the moment. To be uncomfortable. To not like myself So will this book actually save your life? Probably not. But if you read it, you will learn a few things: That it’s never too late to try again, relationships can be mended, pain can be felt and endured, that the world is full of wonderful people and wonderful experiences if only you open yourself up to the possibilities. These are things we forget when we are suffering. We tend to withdraw, hide ourselves away, retreat into ourselves and allow our pain to engulf us. For me this book was a much needed reminder that life does go on, if only you live it. Richard seems to have gone through a seismic shift towards acceptance. Life throws stuff at him, it’s dealt with, without him dealing with it. We could all take a leaf out of his book – who knows, we may make a few new friends, or try a new class, or let life go on around us and not try and control outcomes. See what happens perhaps!!!No, it won't. A.M. Homes's This Book Will Save Your Life can't even generate enough energy to save itself. He gives away new cars, pays for his maid's hip replacement, sends the weary housewife to a spa. "This is the person he wants to be," Homes writes. "He wants to be able to do this for others, strangers, it doesn't matter who, and he wants to be able to do it for himself." His Good Samaritan impulse also inspires a series of impromptu rescue operations: A horse is trapped in a sinkhole, a hostage is trapped in a trunk, a woman is trapped in a bad marriage. These episodes are mildly amusing (for 15 minutes, he's a national celebrity, a punch line on Letterman), but because Richard is so imperturbable and his success so firmly guaranteed, the scenes never develop any real suspense. So, I’ve been trying to analyze this. It’s like I’m mad about the ‘what might have beens’, or I’m mad that I’m such a wuss about taking chances. Mostly I’m just mad. Sadly this book goes nowhere. At all. Things happen. There are even plot resolutions. But they're so artfully hidden, so well-buried under that pile of prose that you only realise that something has happened hours later. And that robs the book of any closure. I've had a few weeks to think about it and figure out the story. And I still feel like someone tore out the last chapter of the copy I read. It's just left me with unresolved frustated feelings for the book. Which is ironic, given the subject matter.

Your novel’s title will surely draw in readers. How did you come up with the title? In what ways do you hope the novel will change people’s lives? Or might it be a wry commentary on self-help books? A nod to the nihilistic funnymen of Britain’s Benrik series (“This Book Will Change Your Life”)? All of the above? None of the above? The girl tries to guide the horse up the door and out of the hole. He won't go. She runs up and down the wooden door trying to show him that the ramp is safe. The horse is suspicious—he wants to come out, he starts to come out, but something keeps him in the hole. And he's catching on to the fact that he's trapped and is looking at the girl and at Richard, wanting someone to explain it in horse terms. For what seemed like a light-hearted romp, turned out to be a forensic examination and rumination of this reader’s own life. You know, Richard’s experiences in this story, would touch on so many people. I would be surprised if any one reader couldn’t find something to draw on here. Fascinating . . . I consumed these stories exactly like a spectator of a good fight or a neighbor peering through the hedge, and I felt sharply observed in turn. Homes, with her fierce sharp wit, reveals her characters’ deep flaws. No one gets away with anything and the spectacle is delightful.”—Molly Livingston, The Paris Review Daily It's been all over the TV," Richard says, leading him in, pointing to the screen. "You looked pretty good in that helicopter."

kitapta çok komik bir yer var. ünlü senaristle huzurevine gidip bir adamı bir günlüğüne dışarı çıkarıp gezdiriyorlar. richard’ın senaristin babası sandığı adam meğer kendini iyi hisset projesi gibi huzurevinde seçip baktığın biriymiş. böyle bir sistem bile var. inanılmaz. Hilarious . . . Homes writes in the tradition of Kurt Vonnegut and has the talent to pull it off.”– San Francisco Chronicle With dark humor and sharp dialogue, Homes plumbs the depths of everyday American anxieties through stories about unexpected situations.”— Time In April of 2007 Viking published her long awaited memoir, The Mistress's Daughter, the story of the author being "found" by her biological family, and a literary exploration and investigation of identity, adoption and genealogical ties that bind.