This Book Will Save Your Life

By A.M. Homes

Book Overview

From the author of Music for Torching?an uplifting and apocalyptic tale set in Los Angeles about one man?s efforts to bring himself back to life Since her debut in 1989, A. M. Homes has been among the boldest and most original voices of her generation, acclaimed for the psychological accuracy and unnerving emotional intensity of her storytelling. Her keen ability to explore how extraordinary the ordinary can be is at the heart of her touching and funny new novel, her first in six years.Richard Novak is a modern-day Everyman, a middle-aged divorc? trading stocks out of his home. He has done such a good job getting his life under control that he needs no one?except his trainer, nutritionist, and housekeeper. He is functionally dead and doesn?t even notice until two incidents?an attack of intense pain that lands him in the emergency room, and the discovery of an expanding sinkhole outside his house?conspire to hurl him back into the world. On his way home from the hospital, Richard forms the first of many new relationships: He meets Anhil, the doughnut shop owner, an immigrant who dreams big. He finds a weeping housewife in the produce section of the supermarket, helps save a horse that has fallen into the sinkhole, daringly rescues a woman from the trunk of her kidnapper?s car, and, after the sinkhole claims his house and he has to relocate to a Malibu rental, he befriends a reluctant counterculture icon. In the end, Richard is also brought back in closer touch with his family?his aging parents, his brilliant brother, the beloved ex-wife whom he still desires, and finally, before the story?s breathtaking finale, with his estranged son Ben.The promised land of Los Angeles?a surreal city of earthquakes, wildfires, mudslides, and feral Chihuahuas?is also very much a character in This Book Will Save Your Life. A vivid, revealing novel about compassion, transformation, and what can happen if you are willing to lose yourself and open up to the world around you, it should significantly broaden Homes?s already substantial audience.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0670034932
• ISBN13: 9780670034932
• Release Date: April 2006
• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Length: 384 Pages
• Weight: 1.37 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.3" x 1.3" x 6.2"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Grade 12 and higher

Customer Reviews

Highly entertaining!

I loved this book. It was just incredibly fun and very entertaining. That is not to say it did not have serious moments, because it did. I am usually not a fan of Hollywood/L.A. scene books, but enjoyed this one. I did not find it that bogged down in stereotypes as other reviewers did. Sure, some were there, but often the stereotype would surprise you and do something very "unstereotypical." I read this book in a day. I loved Richard's journey and all his friends, Nic, Anhil, Cynthia, Ben, Malibu and The Actor, Tad, even the sink hole investigator guys; and the 911 receptionist. It was kind, hopeful, made me laugh and on more than one occasion made me celebrate life and the people in it, quirks and all. It also made me laugh at some of the ridiculous things people are into, and why. The book pokes fun at a lot of new-agey L.A. stuff, but in a way that is not dark ~ just seemed to see the humor in it all. If you want a fun, entertaining time, this book is great for that. It may not be Pulizter material, but you'll probably enjoy yourself. I was truly bummed when it ended. Everyone I've recommended it to has thanked me.

Perceptive, entertaining, and laugh out loud funny

A.M. Homes has been a favorite since "Music for Torching". She has a gift for satyrizing stereotypical characters confronted with atypical situations, while keeping it all on the precipice of believability. "This Book..." opens with Richard (don't call me Dick) Novack - divorced, middle-aged and financially free - experiencing an epiphany after a scare with a mystery illness. Richard has spent his past several years glued to his computer screen managing his investments, while his housekeeper, nutritionist, and personal trainer manage his personal needs. He is as removed from social intercourse as anyone in LA could manage to be, until the illness and an emerging sink-hole on his property change his life. A chance meeting with a woman crying in the produce department at Ralph's, the rescue of a horse from the sink-hole, a stop at an out-of-the way donut shop, a trespassing trash-picker, and a stray dog all lead to funny and lasting relationships which Richard greedily invites into his empty life. Offstage, Richard's estranged teenage son Ben is en route for a visit with the father he despises for his neglect. The book plays in your mind like the multilayered movies about LA life - Crash, Laurel Canyon, for example - and could easily be adapted to screen. But enjoy it in your mind - it's a trip worth taking.

Refreshingly well done

Gives you an exuberant rush for the first half and a bit of a deep-breathing, near-angynic fit of panic for the second. Wonderfully realised, as someone might say. Enjoyed it quite a bit.

Loved this book from the beginning to the end

The title might be a bit presumptuous, but this novel, in the most captivating way, makes you think about stopping to smell the roses. In a way, it does throw out a lifeline. The book is charming, funny, outrageous, and just might be a long, modern day parable for good living. When Richard feels incredible, real pain, he seems to "wake up" from his repetitive, meaningless life. By opening up, he allows himself to meet, and befriend, a cast of intriguing, genuine, although slightly eccentric, characters. From the donut maker, the crying housewife, the movie star, and my favorite, Nic the writer, Richard's eyes are opened to life as it could be, maybe should be. As Richard starts remembering who he is, and what really matters, the most incredible things are going on around him. I tried to read this book straight through, although my life kept getting in the way (school, sleeping, family) but believe me, once I started, I didn't want to put it down. Now I'm going to lay it down, recommend it to my friends, and go love on my cat, call my kids, and do something nice for someone.

wonderful book

I devoured this book. It is wise, compassionate, funny, moving, and as good as any novel every written about LA. As a transplanted New Yorker, I am amazed at how well Ms. Homes understands life here. She has captured its insanity as well as its poetry. And she conjures its most magical quality -- that on any given day virtually anything is possible. I heartily recommend it, and then when you are finished, go read The End of Alice, and then tell me that AM Homes is not one of the best living American writers.