LET ME BE FRANK W/YOU (Frank Bascombe) Paperback – September 24, 2015

I cannot recall when I read a book and then immediately re-read it—but that’s exactly what I did with Richard Ford’s latest—the fourth in his Frank Bascombe series, :”Let Me Be Frank with You”—with Frank now 68-years-old and retired from the real estate business and just a few years younger than me! As is true of the author as well. Like the other three novels, this one is also in first person (confession: I haven’t read the other three but will do so and actually just started the first). And the voice is so rich, filling the novel with the most delicious sentences—he just loves dashes and parentheses as do I—some of which will, I think, be often quoted in the future. For example, when Frank visits his sort-of old friend, Eddie, in Hospice care, Frank says, “Possibly he’s practicing being a corpse.” I know! You laughed when you knew you shouldn’t. So be prepared to do so when reading this novel. I don’t know how some women might respond to this oh-so-very-male voice, not that he says anything that is really offensive. But he certainly does get into the specifics of being a male who is moving far too rapidly toward death. As I read this novel, I was often reminded of the time I read the four Rabbit novels by John Updike. (By the way, both Updike and Ford won a Pulitzer for one of them!) This novel is set against the backdrop of the aftermath of what Hurricane Sandy brought to the people in New Jersey. The work is actually four inter-connected stories (novellas or very long short stories) much as “Olive Kitteridge” by Elizabeth Strout is (it too won a Pulitzer). Houses become the central metaphor beginning with one that Frank and his second wife (she’s busy providing grief counselling for those impacted by the mammoth storm) once owned and which has been toppled. Then in the second story, Frank is home alone when a middle aged black woman shows up and wishes to see the house she once lived in. I never expected the ending of this story! Then in the third he visits the plush retirement-type condominium owned by his first wife who has Parkinson’s. And in the last set on Christmas Eve day, he visits Eddie, dying in Hospice care provided by the most wonderful character, a large black woman in her early sixties named Finesse who, at one point outside the bedroom door where the two men are, says, “You all still alive in there?” That is so funny—and not! In this story the narrator says, “Life if a matter of subtractions,” a major theme of the novel. And for people my age, we know that truth. We read about people younger than us who have died. We willingly give things we’ve owned to anyone willing to take them. And our aches and pains say that our bodies are in the process of subtracting, of contracting. And Frank thinks that when it is his time for Hospice care that he wants Finesse to be the care-giver. (I want her too!) The last two pages of the novel may cause a swelling of the tear ducts as Frank and the oil delivery man meet and part on Christmas Eve. When Terry Gross interviewed Richard Ford on “Fresh Air,” he spoke about how he writes down all types of sentences he finds or thinks up. And this novel is packed with the most wonderful, fresh sentences—oh so new to the written page. This is one of my favorites and one I suspect people my age can readily relate to: “But what I mostly want to do is nothing I don’t want to do.” And what I did want to do when I finished reading this novel was to immediately re-read it. You might as well.

I'm a long time reader and fan of Richard Ford. When "Independence Day" came out in 1995, set during the 4th of July timeframe in 1988, I saw an article on it in The Wall Street Journal, and then decided to read its predecessor "The Sportswriter," (set over Easter weekend, 1982) which was released in 1986, first. I then read "Independence Day," and some of his short stories collections, including "Women with Men." I was excited to read the presumably last and final chapter in the life and times of Frank Bascombe in "The Lay of the Land," set over Thanksgiving weekend in 2000. I think of these works as containing deep imagery and human reflection within the realm of historically-applied fiction, a wonderful cocktail to share with oneself, alone, late at night.Thus, I was extremely excited to see this "bonus" novella-like work with four interconnected longish short stories from the world of Mr. Bascombe, set around Christmas, 2012. If you're a fan of the earlier Bascombe adventures, it's simply criminal not to read it. And you will enjoy catching up with an old friend, or "older" friend as Bascombe is now 68 and feeling perhaps older than his years. Bascombe has gone from "dreaminess" in the first novel to the "existence" period of the second, to the "Permanent" period of the 3rd novel...to the Default Period.But what if you haven't read any of the Frank Bascombe stories, or aren't a fan of Richard Ford? Would you enjoy it?The short answer is yes, particularly if you are looking for great imagery, deep insight into human relationships, especially when it comes to what is left unsaid and what is thought and felt, either in a conversation or in silence. I won't spoil the stories with what actually happens, but suffice it to say, Frank is reflective as ever as he deals again with "family" relationships, the aging of his peers and himself, and perhaps the indelicate aging of his memories, too. Dealing with the fallout of Hurricane Sandy, and its impact to some of his associates in New Jersey adds wonderful background to the stories. Note I did not use the term friend, as Frank Bascombe shares interesting thoughts on friendship at his age (and mental state).As first time novelist, I created my protagonist Mark Amici of my recently published novel "The Naive Guys," as very much a descendent of this type of writing. Of course, it is nowhere near as good. But even with this fourth edition of the life and times of Mr. Bascombe, I was amazed and uplifted how Mr. Ford continues to deliver.There's tons of compelling, thought-provoking universal truths that emerge from Frank's thoughts in the novel. Two of my favorites are "Love isn't a thing, after all, but an endless series of single acts" and "Since time invested determines the quality of a friendship, having more than five genuine friends is pretty much impossible."I can only hope Richard Ford will change his mind once again, and give us a truly final Frank Bascombe novella set during a New Year's Eve yet to happen. Enjoy.

Because this was a continuation of the Frank Bascombe story, I had to read it (plus I do enjoy Ford's writing style). This book takes you through a few days in which Frank interacts with a few people (his second wife, a woman who used to live in his current house, his ex-wife, a former acquaintance, and a fuel oil delivery man) and thinks a lot about his past and present life, aging and death. It is one of Ford's most introspective works. My only quibble with it is its brevity. When I flipped the last page and got to Acknowledgments, I thought, "What? That's it?!" I guess I was expecting a more developed story, like Lay of the Land (third in this series). Yet this book will cost you the same (or more) than books that give you a lot more for your money.

Wonderful writer, loved it as I knew I would

Die Geschichte von Frank Bascombe weiterzuverfolgen war notwendig. Wer Frank einmal in sein Herz geschlossen hat, wird diesem ebenso hellsichtigen wie humorvollen Beobachter amerikanischer Lebenswirklichkeit gerne weiter folgen. Dieses Mal in Episoden aufgelöst besucht alte Freunde an kritischen Stellen ihrer Biografie und arbeitet die Brüche des Menschlichen sehr pointiert heraus. Ein lohnendes Buch.

You can see that the other day and I will have to see. She is the best person she can and she can be the same way.

Ford first introduced Frank Bascombe in "The Sportswriter". This was followed by "Independence Day", which won the Pulitzer Prize, and "The Lay of the Land."In this collection of four related novellas, Frank first surveys the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy while encountering the man who purchased his house, now gone. Next, a woman revisits her childhood home, where Frank is now living, recalling the terrible events which once occurred there. Then a visit to his ex-wife, suffering from Parkinson`s and resident in a "staged extended-care community." And finally a visit to a former acquaintance who is now in the act of dying.Throughout all this, Brascombe ruminates , with wry humor, on politics, aging, death, relationships and other aggravations that affect our daily lives.A fine book by a great writer.

Ayant lu tous les livres de Richard Ford à plusieurs reprises, j'avais été très déçu par Canada. Avec let me be frank with you, Ford a retrouvé le rythme lent mais tellement juste des chefs d'oeuvre comme Independence Day ou The Lay of the Land. Et contrairement à Canada, où on s'attend à un dénouement (qui n'arrive pas), avec Bascombe on sait que rien de spectaculaire ne se passera. Le héros traverse les différents épisodes de sa vie avec un certain flegme et un recul admirable. Grâce à l'écriture finement ciselée de Richard Ford, même les événements banals de la vie quotidienne procurent au lecteur un plaisir immense. J'aurais aimé que le livre compte trois cents pages de plus...