A Gentleman's Guide to Graceful Living: A Novel - Softcover

Dahlie, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0393336352 ISBN 13: 9780393336351

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company, 2009

Synopsis

“A tour filled with moments of grace and angst, and an overwhelming sense that compassion matters.” ―Minneapolis Star Tribune

Arthur Camden’s greatest talents are for packing and unpacking suitcases, making coleslaw, and second-guessing every decision in his life. When his business fails and his wife leaves him―to pursue more aggressive men―Arthur finds that he has none of the talents and finesse that everyone else seems to possess for navigating New York society.

About this title

About the Author:

Michael Dahlie is the author of The Best of Youth and A Gentleman’s Guide to Graceful Living, winner of the 2009 PEN/Hemingway Award, and he received a Whiting Award in 2010. He is an Associate Professor in Butler University’s English Department and MFA Program and he directs the Mont Blanc Writing Seminars, held every June in Chamonix, France. He lives in Indianapolis.

From Publishers Weekly:

In Dahlie's entertaining debut, Arthur Camden is a fly fisherman, devoted husband and father, and minor Manhattan socialite who would like nothing more than to avoid troubling introspection. Yet his slow botching of the family import-export business and the sudden dissolution of his marriage certainly have something to do with his bursting into tears at a meeting of the Hanover Street Fly Casters—a men's club founded by his great-grandfather—and declaring his steadfast love for its members. This display of emotion is only the first crack in his reputation, and a sojourn to his son's Colorado ranch begins a retreat to the safety of the club's restricted world, while sorting out a bevy of complex feelings he struggles to recognize, let alone process. In the balance is nothing short of his identity and self-worth, stakes that debut novelist Dahlie makes abundantly clear with light comic touches. Dahlie's dry and understated portrayal of old upper-crust Manhattan is as crisp and authentic as a well-made gin and tonic; the various turns of plot are swift and precise; and one is soon rooting for Arthur to get his groove back. (June)
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About this edition

• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0393336352
• ISBN 13: 9780393336351
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 284