Mary After All

By Bill Gordon

Book Overview

In the tradition of Roddy Doyle's The Woman Who Walked Into Doors comes a brilliant feat of literary ventriloquism, a debut novel by a male author introducing a one-of-a-kind female narrator.

Meet Mary Nolan (n e Marelli), a tough-talking Jersey City native who comes of age during the turbulent 1970s. Adored by the small-time mafia types in her extended Italian American family-formidable but doting figures like her grandpa Louie, Tony the Horse, and Charlie Cuppacoffee-Mary grew up believing she could always count on men to protect her. But after marrying young to escape her parents, Mary finds herself sidelined by life with a philandering husband and two needy young sons, her dreams as shattered as the city around her.

By turns hilarious and heartbreaking, Mary tells of her unusual route to independence, and about the lives she touches-and is touched by-along the way. From Aunt Dot and Aunt Loretta, who get her started in "business," to the ex-nuns who listen to her troubles even as they ask her for relationship advice, to the nosy neighborhood housewives determined to befriend her, Mary finds allies in the unlikeliest of places. How she learns to stand on her own "legitimately"-triumphantly-is the heart of Bill Gordon's remarkable first novel.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385336438
• ISBN13: 9780385336437
• Release Date: December 2005
• Publisher: Dial Press
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.60 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.7" x 5.6" x 8.3"

Customer Reviews

Jersey City Nostalgia

Mary After All was truly remarkable in all aspects. The wonderful synergy of intricately working together a strong sense of place, willful characters and roller coaster emotions makes you yearn for more about Mary, her family, and yes, even Jersey City, New Jersey. My only question is why did it have to end, but I guess as the old saying goes, "all good things must come to an end". But we can always hope that one day there will be more. Thanks Bill Gordon for bringing me back to the Jersey City I once knew and still have to love.

A Great Novel About the Human Experience

Obviously, Mary After All has struck a chord of truth with the reviwers on this page! Bill Gordon has written something universal, and you can't help but feel strongly about it. Like all good stories, this book marries truth, sadness, & humor. It's brutal at times, but never sentimental, and always real. Such a funny book might not usually be called "gritty," but this one is. The writing is deceivingly snappy & exuberant; I didn't fully realize how painful a book it was until I had finished. Mary After All stays with you a long time.

Excellent!

This is a great book, and I was surprised to like it as much as I did. I never expected a man to write a female character so well, with humor, truth, it is right on the mark. I also did not expect to like it as much as I did, because Bill Gordon started the story with so many characters, that at first it is difficult to get them quite straight, but suddenly the book just takes off, and you are in Mary Nolan's world of family, friends, aunts, you name it. Plot driven, character driven, and it just rings true. Read this book!

Couldn't put it down.

Forget Dave Eggers, Bill Gordon has written a heartbreaking work of staggering genius. Mary is clutch-your-stomach-and-fall-down-laughing hilarious, and then suddenly you find yourself crying. This book is brilliant -- the voice, the humor, the sadness, the story which somehow I found myself identifying with though I have absolutely zero in common with a 1960s housewife in Jersey City. This is one of those books you don't want to read all at once because you want to save some to read later, but then you can't help yourself. A great find -- a great new author.

A fantastic read

Mary Nolan grew up in Jersey City. She married young and had two sons. Her husband cheated on her, her father forced her to care for her dying mother, and her best friend moved away. Bill Gordon is a genius. His book is written in the first person. The man totally understands the mind of a woman. Bravo!