The Great Perhaps - Hardcover

Meno, Joe

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0330512471 ISBN 13: 9780330512473

Publisher: Picador, 2010

Synopsis

'The wisest, most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since The Corrections' Irvine Welsh

About this title

Review

'If the first 100 pages are anything to go by, it's going to be a winner. Sharp and fluent, the prose is really a delight.' --The Bookseller

'The Great Perhaps is no ordinary comic novel. Meno transcends the genre by taking us back to the grandfather's harsh beginnings, and to the lives of previous generations of Caspers. His ability to connect these disparate strands into one story sets him above the average contemporary writer, and his sudden flights of fancy are irresistible.'
--The Bookseller

'Laugh-out-loud funny but frequently sad, Joe Meno's new novel runs the gamut of emotions and techniques as it depicts a Chicago family in turmoil... They achieve no earth-shattering insights, and neither does the author; he simply reminds us with wit and compassion that the human condition is "both astonishing and quite ordinary."' --Chicago Tribune

'Meno's distinctively imaginative and compassionate fiction is forged at the intersection of ordinariness and astonishment... Tender, funny, spooky, and gripping, Meno's novel encompasses a subtle yet devastating critique of war; sensitively traces the ripple effect of a dark legacy of nebulousness, guilt, and fear; and evokes both heartache and wonder.' --Booklist

'Meno's handle on the written word is fresh and inviting, conjuring a story that delves deeply into the human heart.' --Publisher's Weekly

`The Great Perhaps focuses on the American family, devoting consecutive comic chapters to each member as they struggle to understand the world.'
--Vogue

`the incredibly funny story of 48-year-old American Jonathan Casper and his wife and teenage daughters as they cope, each in their own strange way, with marital separation and Jonathan's eccentric, ailing father. . . this highly original and surprisingly poignant novel.'
--Image magazine

`[it] combines narrative steel, human conviction and a thoughtful examination of the contemporary family. Meno's compassion and understanding is broad, yet intimate . . . With a keen sense of phrasing, and a perfect ear for dialogue - especially teenage speech - Meno has created a refreshingly readable, subtle and intelligent novel. It more than steps out of the shadow cast by The Corrections.' --Independent

`This is a funny, touching novel, but there is wisdom amid the absurdity, as Meno exposes the pitfalls of our soundbite culture and shows the impossibility of finding simple answers in a frightening, war-torn world.' --Waterstone's Books Quarterly

`This is a shrewd and original look at the American nuclear family . . . This is the first time that American author Joe Meno has been published here and we're all the richer for it . . . This is perfect book club fodder or for anyone that wants an imaginative distraction from their daily commute.'
--Stylist

From the Back Cover

A breakout new novel from the critically acclaimed novelist and playwright Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned. Praise for The Great Perhaps . . . "The Great Perhaps is a darkly funny, lyrical, and shrewdly observant chronicle of a family on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Joe Meno has the rare ability to evoke midlife melancholy and teenage angst with equal authority."-Tom Perrotta, author of Election and The Abstinence Teacher "I think The Great Perhaps is the wisest, most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since The Corrections. A marvelous book."-Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting and Crime . . . and for Joe Meno "Joe Meno is an interesting case: a punk/noir stylist who can imitate something more rarefied, poetic, and universal."-Elle "Meno is the closest thing [Chicago's] got to a literary ambassador."-GQ "What to make of Joe Meno, whose icepick-sharp books include many elements that might reasonably be described as quirky, but are rather heartfelt, beautifully written and vivid as a bad dream-or a very, very good one?"-Washington Post Express

About this edition

• Publisher: Picador
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0330512471
• ISBN 13: 9780330512473
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 416