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The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac

by Kris D'Agostino

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1308208,757 (3)5
Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:

In the spirit of novels by Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta, a smart, funny debut about a disillusioned young man whose fledgling leap from postadolescence to adulthood lands him back in an already overburdened family nest.

Calvin Moretti can't believe how much his life sucks. He's a twenty-four-year-old film school dropout living at home again and working as an assistant teacher at a preschool for autistic kids. His insufferable go-getter older brother is also living at home, as is his kid sister, who's still in high school and has just confided to Cal that she's pregnant. What's more, Calvin's father, a career pilot, is temporarily grounded and obsessed with his own mortality. and his ever-stalwart mother is now crumbling under the pressure of mounting bills and the imminent loss of their Sleepy Hollow, New York, home: the only thing keeping the Morettis moored. Can things get worse? Oh, yes, they can.

Which makes it all the more amazing that The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac is not only buoyantly fun but often very, very funny. In this debut novel, Kris D'Agostino has crafted an engrossing contemporary tale of a loopy but loving family, and in Calvin Moretti, he's created an oddball antihero who really wants to do the right thingâ??if he can just figure out what it is.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
adult fiction. Lively account of how one family holds out hope when everything seems to be going wrong. ( )
  reader1009 | Jul 3, 2021 |
The reviews said this was supposed to be funny. I honestly can't say if it is or not because I disliked the book so much I never finished it.
I wanted to like it, but the main character bored me to tears. An over-privileged under-stimulated middle class college graduate with no direction in his life bemoaning his fate. His father has cancer, his sister is pregnant, his mother is struggling to pay the bills, but Calvin's biggest concern is how he's going to save enough to get his own apartment and pay his student loan.
If that's not the definition of a shallow unlikeable character I don't know what is. Every time I picked up this book I lost interest after only a few pages. Enough's enough. I'm done. I hate whiny novels.

( )
  Rainviolet | Jan 10, 2014 |
Drugs, depression, dysfunctional families, death, and a few really funny moments. I would've preferred a few more laughs and something a little less soul-crushing. Good dialogue.

If you liked this book, you might also like The African Safari Papers. ( )
  mcenroeucsb | Nov 29, 2012 |
Twenty four year old Calvin Moretti is not living the dream. Living back home with his parents and employed at a job he doesn’t want, Cal is stuck. His father, a career pilot, has been grounded while undergoing cancer treatments and is convinced that he will not survive. His mother is frantically trying to save their home from foreclosure, his teenage sister is pregnant, and his frustratingly responsible older brother has come home to help. Torn between family responsibility and pursuit of his own happiness, Cal must decide whether to stick around or get out with his sanity intact.
This is a poignant debut that is both funny and moving and full of quirky, memorable characters. If you like dysfunctional but loveable family drama, The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac will not disappoint. ( )
  suballa | Jul 18, 2012 |
After graduating from college with an ever-so-useful degree in film studies, Calvin drops out of graduate school and moves back home, where he finds life as he knew it quickly falling apart. His father, an airline pilot, has been diagnosed with cancer and is morosely awaiting his death (although his disease is treatable and the prognosis is good.) His mom is struggling to pay the mortgage on the reduced income Dad's disability brings in. Big brother Chip (the successful son) is at home, too, and helping to pay the bills. Little sister Elissa is still in high school and has just told Calvin she is pregnant. To help earn his own way, Calvin is working with autistic children, for minimum wage, and spending his spare time hanging out with his old high school friends.

Although this title has its amusing moments, the reader can't help being overtaken by Calvin's aimless lifestyle and his pessimism. There are some wonderful characters, and the scenes at the school are quite touching. The relationships between Calvin and his family are also well-drawn, if a bit over the top. All in all, though, it's just a rather depressing story about a young man who has no idea who he is or what he wants to do with his life. ( )
  alexann | Jun 5, 2012 |
Showing 1-5 of 8 (next | show all)
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Fiction. Literature. Humor (Fiction.) HTML:

In the spirit of novels by Nick Hornby and Tom Perrotta, a smart, funny debut about a disillusioned young man whose fledgling leap from postadolescence to adulthood lands him back in an already overburdened family nest.

Calvin Moretti can't believe how much his life sucks. He's a twenty-four-year-old film school dropout living at home again and working as an assistant teacher at a preschool for autistic kids. His insufferable go-getter older brother is also living at home, as is his kid sister, who's still in high school and has just confided to Cal that she's pregnant. What's more, Calvin's father, a career pilot, is temporarily grounded and obsessed with his own mortality. and his ever-stalwart mother is now crumbling under the pressure of mounting bills and the imminent loss of their Sleepy Hollow, New York, home: the only thing keeping the Morettis moored. Can things get worse? Oh, yes, they can.

Which makes it all the more amazing that The Sleepy Hollow Family Almanac is not only buoyantly fun but often very, very funny. In this debut novel, Kris D'Agostino has crafted an engrossing contemporary tale of a loopy but loving family, and in Calvin Moretti, he's created an oddball antihero who really wants to do the right thingâ??if he can just figure out what it is.

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