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Simpson, Mona Anywhere but Here ISBN 13: 9781574902143

Anywhere but Here - Hardcover

 
9781574902143: Anywhere but Here
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A glamorous mother and daughter are driving impecuniously across America to California, so that Ann can become a child star - provided her mother can grow up. When the fiery relationship and maternal blackmail becomes too much for Ann, she phones her grandmother for reassurance.

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Review:
"Strangers always love my mother," Ann August tells us at the start of Anywhere But Here. "And even if you hate her, can't stand her, even if she's ruining your life, there's something about her, some romance, some power. She's absolutely herself. No matter how hard you try, you'll never get to her. And when she dies, the world will be flat, too simple, reasonable, fair." Indeed, over the course of the dozen or so years chronicled in Mona Simpson's first novel, Ann and everyone else related to the charming, delusional Adele learn this the hard way. Ann does hate her at times; Adele does indeed come pretty close to ruining Ann's life on numerous occasions, or at least scarring it, and yet, ultimately, it isn't possible not to love her. As Ann puts it: "The thing about my mother and me is that when we get along we're just the same."

This is a woman who uproots her child from Wisconsin and moves to Los Angeles, leaving behind a dull husband (not Ann's father--who wandered off long ago but makes appearances here in memories), under the premise that life will be beautiful and Ann will become a famous television star. But her lifelong dream and goal ("It was our secret, a nighttime whispered promise" turns out, like so many things in the Augusts' lives, to be lackluster when it becomes reality. Adele merely feeds on fantasy and drags her daughter along.

Nevertheless, it's hard not to worship her. We hear from her mother, her sister, from Ann, and finally from Adele herself, and no matter how she's used people, what trouble she's gotten into, or what lies she's told--and there are plenty of all three--a certain amount of awe always remains. When we come upon Ann's proclamation that "it's always the people like my mother, who start the noise and bang things, who make you feel the worst; they are the ones who get your love." It's startling to realize how heartily we agree with her. Anywhere But Here gives truth to this statement in a way that few books ever have. It's dense with misery and amazement all tangled together--a realistic and thus rare portrait of love. --Melanie Rehak

From the Inside Flap:
Anywhere But Here is a moving, often comic portrait of wise child Ann August and her mother, Adele, a larger-than-life American dreamer. As they travel through the landscape of their often conflicting ambitions, Ann and Adele bring to life a novel that is a brilliant exploration of the perennial urge to keep moving, even at the risk of profound disorientation. Simpson's first novel is ultimately a heart-rendering tale of a mother and daughter's invaluable relationship.
"The two women in this book are American originals. Ann is a new Huck Finn, a tough, funny, resourceful love of a girl. Adele is like no one I've encountered, at once deplorable and admirable--and altogether believable."
--Walker Percy
"Anywhere But Here is a wonder: big, complex, masterfully written, it's an achievement that lands [Simpson] in the front ranks of our best novelists."
--"Newsweek

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  • PublisherThomas t Beeler
  • Publication date2000
  • ISBN 10 1574902148
  • ISBN 13 9781574902143
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages660
  • Rating

Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9780679737384: Anywhere but Here

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9780679737384
Publisher: Vintage, 1992
Softcover

  • 9780394552835: Anywhere But Here

    Alfred..., 1986
    Hardcover

  • 9780571201372: Anywhere but Here

    Faber ..., 1999
    Softcover

  • 9780747500179: Anywhere But Here

    London..., 1986
    Hardcover

  • 9780394755595: Anywhere But Here

    Vintage, 1987
    Softcover

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ISBN 10: 1574902148 ISBN 13: 9781574902143
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