by Richard Ford
First published 2014
Frank Bascombe walks through a world transformed by Hurricane Sandy's destruction. The storm has left New Jersey's landscape scarred and its people struggling to rebuild their lives. Bascombe encounters neighbors, strangers, and acquaintances as they all grapple with what the hurricane has taken from them. He visits damaged homes, attends awkward social gatherings, and tries to make sense of how quickly everything familiar can disappear. The storm becomes a lens through which Bascombe examines his own life and the lives around him. He offers his particular brand of commentary on American existence, mixing humor with hard truths about loss and recovery. Four connected stories follow Bascombe as he moves through this changed world, attempting to provide comfort where he can and understanding where comfort falls short. The hurricane's aftermath forces him to confront questions about resilience, community, and what it means to start over when the ground beneath you has shifted.
Genres: fiction, literary-fiction, american-fiction, american, contemporary, 21st-century
Vibes: emotional, intimate, thought-provoking
Tropes: character-study, slice-of-life
Setting: New Jersey
Period: 21st-century
240 pages · Hardcover · Ecco