Anybody Any Minute

By Julie Mars

Book Overview

Ellen Kenny has a big mouth and a penchant for telling the truth, which is why she's just been fired from yet another high-profile NYC job. Determined to make the most of this unexpected free time, she heads to Montreal to visit her sister. On the way, she spots a tumbledown upstate farmhouse---one she's seen in her dreams for years---and impulsively buys it on a hefty credit card advance. Over her husband's protests, Ellen decides to drop out of the rat race and spend the summer living out her woman-who-runs-with-the wolves fantasy, communing with nature---her own included---in an effort to confront middle age and figure out how on earth she got there. Rather than peacefully tend her garden and puzzle things out, however, Ellen soon becomes embroiled in the exceedingly unique problems of two redneck, social misfit neighbors---an ex-biker and an aging chainsaw sculptor---while taking care of a narcoleptic dog and a child who doesn't speak English. With Ellen's quest for meaning and her concern for the welfare of others driving the plot, Anybody Any Minute is deeply layered, heartbreaking . . . and hilarious. ?

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0312378696
• ISBN13: 9780312378691
• Release Date: May 2008
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press
• Length: 342 Pages
• Weight: 0.04 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 6.8" x 9.5"

Customer Reviews

couldn't stop laughing except when I was bemused

When over a year ago I heard Julie Mars read a couple chapters from Anybody Any Minute, I couldn't get over how different it seemed from her previous book A Month of Sundays, a memoir of her sister. Anybody, a novel about a woman--a forty-six-year-old ex-hippie on the lam from her marriage to a New York City public defender--seemed close to farcical. Ellen Kenny, aka Florence the Ripper, has been fired from her job working for a producer-director of political documentaries. On impulse having bought a ramshackle house in the boonies near the Canadian border by charging it on her credit card, Ellen moves in for the summer and without ado befriends a couple of male characters who transform from caricature to beloved companions, becomes a stand-in mom to her toddler nephew Olivier, adopts a narcoleptic dog Mutley, and produces a cornucopia of veggies by watering her organic garden with a watering can. Becoming a homebuyer on a credit card and then calling her husband to tell him is no funnier than what happens to Ellen when she is caught in a rain barrel naked, when she takes too big a yawn, or when she plays getaway driver in a scene from The Graduate, but these events give way to a deeper seriousness about achieving ipsissimus ("she who is most herself") and opening her heart to whatever unexpected occurs at any minute. With a knack for attracting men whose names begin with R (Reginald, Rodney, and Rayfield), Ellen struggles through ambivalent moments about retrieving her marriage to Tommy while being a devoted sister to Karen whose Peruvian husband is in a coma throughout most of the book. Ellen's self-centeredness leaves plenty of room for others as she makes her way from attachment to non-attachment in a well-paced set of chapters. Her humor is no more directed at others than at herself: "I guess that's why I ended up a researcher when I always wanted to be a backup singer," she says. Her tone is alternately self-mocking and manic. A line that doesn't fully do her justice because it overlooks all her retreats is "For Ellen, though, slamming in, head-on, was a way of life." Her relationship with Rayfield Geebo (reluctant ex of a woman nicknamed Wide Load) develops unexpectedly, and Ellen's openness to the previous owner's chainsaw art and his mother's legacy cap the plot. The miracle of the funereal statue and the discovery of sixty-year old gold coins are touchstones for healing and reconciliation. And finally, the hilarious reason the locals have decided Ellen bought the house is a perfect segue for her husband's reappearance at the end. Julie is my former colleague at Central New Mexico Community College, and I'm glad I finally took time to read this endearing and often outrageous book.

Characters That Stay With You

Every now and then I read a novel and the characters stay with me long after I close the book. Anybody Any Minute is one of those distinct pleasures. I found myself cheering for the entire cast of complex characters - each in a different way. Julie Mars created an ensemble that cracked me up and made me cry. I only wish these people were real because I would love to meet them. The story went unexpected places -which kept me riveted -- but in the end - it all made perfect sense. I would recommend this book to anyone who is pondering their meaning in life -- and what it takes to truly live in the now. Great, great read!

refreshing experience

i picked up this book at random thinking the location was to my liking. i believe every woman no matter age or life experiences dreams of a place of her own. one to mold into who she really is void of all the responsibilties that are created or god given.i thoroughly enjoyed every page of this wonderful book. could picture myself planting a garden, using the old washing machine & making such extroadinary friends. many thanks to julie mars for her special trip through my dream vacation this summer. i am a senior citizen who has always wanted to move to vermont & take my chances. but, that is out of the question for me now so this book was my "summer romance" into the world i hankered for all these years.

Any body, Any Minute - Great Novel

Anybody, Any Minute explores an adventure about opening one's own heart while appreciating new friends and old relationships. Memorable characters, lots of laughs and tears and a touch of magic realism. If you experienced the sixties or have been attracted to alternative lifestyles and people out of the main stream of acceptability, you'll enjoy Julie Mars' humorous and touching page turner that is full of insight.

Great Read

"Anybody, Any Minute" by Julie Mars is a raucous romp through the memory of a middle-aged New York woman trying to figure out who to become in her next phase of life. The scenes in the book where Ellen takes care of her nephew are touching and somewhat sad, while the larger story line careens through enough "stuff" to fill several lifetimes. Following Mars' brilliant memoir "A Month of Sundays", "Anybody, Any Minute" really showcases the authors varied talents - a great story - funny and melancholy at the same time. I love a story that really grabs me.