The Shape of Things to Come - Hardcover

Casey, Maud

2.9

121 ratings by Goodreads

9780688176952: The Shape of Things to Come

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 068817695X ISBN 13: 9780688176952

Publisher: William Morrow & Co, 2001

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Isabelle, a woman in her thirties without any of the trappings of a "grown-up" life, has just been fired from her job at a San Francisco phone company. Returning to the midwestern suburb of her childhood, Standardsville, Illinois, she contends with her dating single mother, a neighbor who once appeared on The Honeymooners, and an ex-boyfriend. She also becomes a "mystery shopper" for a temp agency, posing as a variety of potential tenants for newly built suburban communities to assess their exclusive services. Enchanted by the possibilities of disguise, Isabelle spins a web of lies that keeps the world at a distance until she unearths long-kept secrets that force her to rethink everything she thought she knew.
Insightful and entertaining, this gracefully written novel explores a generation defined by reinvention in a landscape gradually being devoured by developers. Depicting the comedy of being a grown-up still coming of age, Maud Casey reveals how people narrate their lives to counter the chaotic randomness of modern existence.

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Review:

"Complex, mature and compelling." -- The Chicago Tribune

"Maud Casey's accomplished first novel, takes up with the endearingly subversive Isabelle . . .--Elle

"This is a wonderful account of our need to both invent and reinvent ourselves. A deft and generous book.--Margot Livesey

"Casey is a stand-up philosopher posing vexing questions about human existence. She's funny, inventive...dazzling narrative dare."--The New York Times Book Review

"Complex, mature and compelling."--The Chicago Tribune

"Isabelle is so vivacious that even though she's utterly confused about her future, we know it'll turn out just fine."--Redbook

"Full of lovely sentences, empathetic characters. This story is as engaging and scintillating as one told by a best friend.--Darcey Steinke

"Casey deftly writes about the struggle out of the tomb, the restoration of sanity, the search for a small peace.--Mark Richard

"Isabelle is a millennial treasure. The journey from child to woman . . . is poignant and funny.."--Anne Rivers Siddons

"Casey is very good at creating characters who are torn between the strong emotions they experience . . . "--Ann Beattie

About the Author:

Maud Casey stories have appeared in The Threepenny Review, Prairie Schooner, The Gettysburg Review, and elsewhere. Casey received her B.A. from Wesleyan University and her M.F.A. in fiction from the University of Arizona. She lives in Washington, DC and teaches in the MFA program at the University of Maryland.

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