Family Man - Paperback

by Elinor Lipman (Author)

A hysterical phone call from Henry Archer's ex-wife and a familiar face in a photograph upend his well-ordered life and bring him back into contact with the child he adored, a short-term stepdaughter from a misbegotten marriage long ago. Henry is a lawyer, an old-fashioned man, gay, successful, lonely. Thalia is now twenty-nine, an actress-hopeful, estranged from her newly widowed eccentric mother--Denise, Henry's ex. Hoping it will lead to better things for her career, Thalia agrees to pose as the girlfriend of a horror-movie luminary who is down on his romantic luck. When Thalia and her complicated social life move into the basement of Henry's Upper West Side townhouse, she finds a champion in her long-lost father, and he finds new life--and maybe even new love--in the commotion.

Front Jacket

Hilarious and moving . . . The plot alone will suck in readers, but Lipman's knack for creating lovable and multifaceted characters is the real draw. Publishers Weekly (starred)

A hysterical phone call from Henry Archer s ex-wife and a familiar face in a photograph upend his well-ordered life and bring him back into contact with the child he adored, a short-term stepdaughter from a misbegotten marriage long ago. Henry is a lawyer, an old-fashioned man, gay, successful, lonely. Thalia is now twenty-nine, an actress-hopeful, estranged from her newly widowed eccentric mother Denise, Henry s ex. Hoping it will lead to better things for her career, Thalia agrees to pose as the girlfriend of a horror-movie luminary who is down on his romantic luck. When Thalia and her complicated social life move into the basement of Henry s Upper West Side townhouse, she finds a champion in her long-lost father, and he finds new life and maybe even new love in the commotion.

A venture into new geography and slightly different chambers of the heart for the best comic novelist writing today, THE FAMILY MAN is also classic Lipman irresistible, incisive, and pure pleasure to read.

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Back Jacket

In this screwball New York comedy from "an Austen-like stylist" (Washington Post Book World), a man reconnects with a long-lost stepdaughter and finds his life turned upside down.

PRAISE FOR ELINOR LIPMAN AND THE FAMILY MAN

"Elinor Lipman s patented blend of wit, whimsy, and love for her characters makes every sentence of The Family Man shine. The book is a delightful Manhattan romp that offers 300-plus pages of pure reading pleasure." Stephen McCauley, author of THE OBJECT OF MY AFFECTION

"About the best trick any writer can possess is the ability to make everything look easy, even to other writers who know better. Elinor Lipman possesses this gift in spades." Richard Russo

"If Jane Austen had been born about two centuries later, gone to Smith, then palled around with Fran Lebowitz, chances are she d have written like Elinor Lipman. She is one of the last urbane romantics." Julia Glass, Chicago Tribune

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