A Regular Guy

Jacket Description/Flap: Mona Simpson's first two novels, "Anywhere But Here and "The Lost Father, won her literary renown and a wide following. Now, in her third novel, the narrator Ann Atassi has been replaced by a third-person narrator recounting the adventures of young Jane di Natali, but the theme remains the same: the search for, and the attempt to understand, the absent father. This time the father is a millionaire biotechnology magnate named Tom Owens. Into Owens's charmed life comes Jane, born out of wedlock, raised in communes, and now dispatched into his care by a mother who is no longer capable of providing it; Tom is far from ready for this responsibility. Fans of Simpson's previous novels will not be disappointed by this excursion into the cracked world of family relations. "Simpson is an attentive observer and a fluent stylist, but it is the element of subtle surprise that draws us through these pages, the magnetism of an original mind that holds us fast."--"BooklistPublisher Marketing: Anywhere But Here and The Lost Father have established Mona Simpson as one of our most accomplished writers. In her new novel--the portrait of a legendary, quintessentially American entrepreneur trapped by the age he helped to define--she brilliantly extends her achievement. More powerfully than ever before, Simpson uncovers the nature of longing and belonging, of blood relations and the human heart. Publisher Marketing: Mona Simpson's first two novels, "Anywhere But Here" and "The Lost Father," won her literary renown and a wide following. Now, in her third novel, the narrator Ann Atassi has been replaced by a third-person narrator recounting the adventures of young Jane di Natali, but the theme remains the same: the search for, and the attempt to understand, the absent father. This time the father is a millionaire biotechnology magnate named Tom Owens. Into Owens's charmed life comes Jane, born out of wedlock, raised in communes, and now dispatched into his care by a mother who is no longer capable of providing it; Tom is far from ready for this responsibility. Fans of Simpson's previous novels will not be disappointed by this excursion into the cracked world of family relations. "Simpson is an attentive observer and a fluent stylist, but it is the element of subtle surprise that draws us through these pages, the magnetism of an original mind that holds us fast."--"Booklist" Review Citations:

New York Times 12/21/1997 pg. 24 (EAN 9780679772712, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 09/08/1997 (EAN 9780679772712, Paperback)

People Weekly 10/24/2011 pg. 63 (EAN 9780679772712, Paperback)

Publishers Weekly 08/19/1996 pg. 52 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover) - *Starred Review

Kirkus Reviews 08/01/1996 pg. 1087 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

Booklist 08/01/1996 pg. 1856 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

New York Times 10/27/1996 pg. 16 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

Wilson Fiction Catalog 01/01/1997 pg. 73 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

Library Journal Prepub Alert 06/01/1996 pg. 82 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

Library Journal 06/01/1996 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

Library Journal 08/01/1996 (EAN 9780679450917, Hardcover)

Contributor Bio:  Simpson, Mona Mona Simpson is the recipient of a Whiting Writer s Award, a Guggenheim grant, and the Hodder Fellowship at Princeton University. Since 1988 she has taught at Bard College, where she now holds the Sadie Samuelson Levy Chair of Languages and Literature. She recently received a grant from the Lila Wallace Reader s Digest Foundation. She lives in Santa Monica, California.