Product Description

The Pulitzer-Prize Winning novel for 1996.

In this visionary sequel to The Sportswriter, Richard Ford deepens his portrait of one of the most unforgettable characters in American fiction, and in so doing gives us an indelible portrait of America.

Frank Bascombe, in the aftermath of his divorce and the ruin of his career, has entered an "Existence Period," selling real estate in Haddam, New Jersey, and mastering the high-wire act of normalcy. But over one Fourth of July weekend, Frank is called into sudden, bewildering engagement with life.

Independence Day is a moving, peerlessly funny odyssey through America and through the layered consciousness of one of its most compelling literary incarnations, conducted by a novelist of astonishing empathy and perception.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #24253 in Books
• Published on: 1996-05-07
• Released on: 1996-05-07
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 464 pages

Amazon.com
A visionary account of American life--and the long-awaited sequel to one of the most celebrated novels of the past decade--Independence Day reveals a man and our country with unflinching comedy and the specter of hope and even permanence, all of which Richard Ford evokes with keen intelligence, perfect emotional pitch, and a voice invested with absolute authority.

From Publishers Weekly
In this sequel to The Sportswriter, Ford follows his middle-aged American everyman, Frank Bascombe, through the transformative events of a Fourth of July weekend.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Newsday
Richard Ford is one of our reigning interpreters of achy, bittersweet familial melancholy.

Customer Reviews

Ford Creates a Postive Thinking Angstrom -- There is No Running Here
In "Independence Day", Richard Ford's depiction of post-marital devolution (divorce) parallels the lack of marital (or life) bliss shown in other classics: John Updike's "rabbit run" or John O'Hara's "Appointment in Samarra."

This book's protagonist, Frank Bascombe, is not another Harry Angstrom or Julian English - the respective protagonists of Updike's and O'Hara's novels. Instead of leading a life of self destruction after receiving a perceived dealt "straight flush", Bascombe seeks to improve and repair his life.

In love, he twists and turns about whether he should reignite the flame with his ex-spouse - Ann - or turn on the heat with his weekend f$&# buddy - Sally. After hundreds of pages of his interpersonal thoughts about this ever-present conflict, we do not receive an actual conclusion. At least none is definitively delivered such that he and the "chosen one" lead off to the sunset on a white stallion. But, maybe he has made strides closer to such a conclusion, and that is enough to ask from someone so perplexed and perplexing.

In family matters, his son Paul delivers he and the ex-spouse, Ann, a handful. An adolescent whose faults are not uncommon, Paul has delusions of suicide, derived mainly from lack of self esteem and typical teenage angst. Paul's two-day jaunt with only dear old dad to Springfield, Mass. and Cooperstown, NY - the respective homes of basketball's and baseball's halls of fame - is the subject of another large portion of this book. Frank concludes, "Children, who sometimes may be angels of self-discovery, are other times the worst people of the world."

The writing style of Ford is extremely well done, and includes numerous uses of appositions - where the second element parenthetically modifies the first without changing its scope. These commonly placed parentheticals deliver a "herky jerky" motion to the reader's pace and can make the reader stumble or slow down. If not, the complexities of the writing could well be overlooked and missed. Many of the appositions represent Frank's thoughts which contradict or disagree with the written dialogue.

Ford's rich prose and deeply depressing topic of this book make a not-so-uncommon couple of modern American literature. At first, as someone who does not desire to read about others' nagging problems in love or life, I felt I would trudge slowly and belligerently to finish (if I would even do that) this novel. But, not atypically, I was wrong. I enjoyed this book, and read it in a matter of days.

In My Top Five
Frank Bascombe takes his son on a road trip to visit sport's halls of fame. Frank's son has emotional issues, and of late has been getting in more than just a little bit of trouble. It would be wise, although not manditory, to read The Sportswriter first. That book will give one a passport into Frank. Frank is a thinker, he is divorced, has two children, is not hurting for money, is a realtor, and is willing to try new things. If one gives Mr. Ford a chance, his character, Frank, will make one either want to cry or cheer for humanity.

The first sentence in this book, which I have read many times, is enough to make some people quit reading. I have read several articles about the way to begin a piece of fiction, and I don't think any of them recommended an approach such as this one. Also, I wouldn't recommend reading this when there are distractions or if one has a headache. This book takes some concentration, but reading it is like earning an award that is many, many times more valuable than the effort invested. Beach reading it may not be, and there are other great books for those times.

A Pulitzer???

I had high hopes for this book but was sadly disappointed. Read this book if you want to study long long sentence construction. Each sentence was a test of my concentration. The story however did warrant this much effort. Perhaps Pulitzer is a reward for the most number of words with the fewest periods? I gave up.