This Book Will Save Your Life

Picture the love child of Forrest Gump + "Who Moved My Cheese" + that recent Jim Carrey movie "Yes" - about a guy who decides to say yes to everything - and you pretty much get this book in a nutshell.

Wanted to find value in this book because Homes has such a good rep. But either there's something I'm not getting, or the emporer really is naked. This was way too gentle to be satire (even the wacky LA health camp is treated respectfully), way too silly to be taken seriously (hard to get more over-the-top than feral chihuahuas), way too psychologically preposterous to be psychologically credible (are we really supposed to believe stereotypes like "the beatnick author" and "the movie star"?), and way too simplistic to offer realistic show more advice - go ahead, try saying "yes" to everything and see if you get heroism and movie stars ... or creeps & trouble!

I get the moral - that living means more than just existing - and don't dispute that it's a worthwhile message. But I'm going to stick with books like Dandelion Wine that preach the same message a lot more effectively and a whole lot more sincerely. show less

I'm a bit amazed at the overall middling reviews for this book, which from my perspective is a nearly perfect novel. It's funny, wry, and consistently surprising, with a view of the big questions of life that will get you thinking. The characters are excellently drawn. It kept me awake until five in the morning. I wish I had 500 more pages of the book to read.

Yes, it has a surreal feel, but comparisons to Pynchon are off the mark, I think. The surrealism here is a kind of frosting on a base of realism; it's necessary to capture the very real absurdity of life in modern America, and particularly in Los Angeles, the most surreal of modern American cities. But unlike in Pynchon, whose openly satirical names, plots, and characters serve a show more goal of reflecting The Modern Condition, here the focus is purely on the central character, a very real figure, and the central dilemma of his life, which is his alienation from himself in response to emotional trauma. It's a dilemma that I would hope many readers would find easy to understand and identify with.

For all its wackiness, drama and adventure, this is a book with a gentle heart that has lessons for those who are open to them. I could hardly recommend it more. show less

Richard Novak is in his mid-50s and has led a mostly insulated life. He is wealthy but has no social relationships, even with his son and ex-wife. One day after an unnerving health scare and the sudden appearance of a huge sinkhole in front of his swanky LA home, he suddenly awakens to the world around him. With the help of a runaway wife and a donut shop owner, he begins to connect, discovering the various joys life can offer. Yes, it sounds a bit precious but in this author’s capable hands it really works. It is also a perfect California novel, with all the fads and other idiosyncrasies that the Golden State is known for.

I do not read a lot of fiction: if it were all as good as this, I would.

They say everyone has a book in them; well, Amy Homes has stolen mine! I do not know how she got into the oblique neuron links that are the only place that it existed, but she has definitely stolen my magnum opus. I cannot be offended, however because, even I have to admit that she has done a far better job of committing it to paper than I could - even in my dreams!

The book has that brilliant combination of being light and humorous, whilst hitting you like Mohamed Ali at his prime. This is the book of the human condition: it sets out how we all feel about life. Our hero, Richard Novak, has died, not physically, but internally. Suddenly, he becomes aware of what he show more has done and tries to put life to rights. It is not as simple as it seems to do the right thing and everything does not go smoothly, but by at least trying, he rejoins the human race.

This is one of those strange books that chose me, rather than the more usual system. I picked it off my shelf of unread tomes and wondered why on earth I had bought it: it is not my usual fare but I am very glad that I did. If the name A.M. Homes means as much to you as it did to me, then you are lucky - GET OUT THERE and find her books and read them - as the Frosties tiger might say, "They're GRRRRRR-eat!!!" show less

Buckle up. Quite the satiric romp, (very funny yet also moving). We follow Richard, a privileged, self-absorbed man who trades stocks and lives a very isolated life on the west coast. When things suddenly start to go very wrong (Emergency Department-visit-inducing pain and the appearance of a sink hold on the property of his cliffside home) Richard's adventures begin. We watch him reconnect with his east coast family, his neighbours, strangers, and--most important--himself.

This was my first A. M. Homes book, and I'm afraid she just isn't in my wheelhouse. There was some solid writing, but the book has a fundamental flaw. Presumably, the narrative is meant to showcase the resurrection of the main character's humanity. He suddenly begins engaging with the world around him after a health crisis. The message seems to be that he is living a better, more connected life. But the things the character does are highly correlated with his wealth and entitlement - very few people could engage with people in the ways he does, and the solution always seems to be for him to throw a stack of cash at the problems he sees. The rich, whiny, and self-importance with which he goes about this new life overshadowed the better show more nature of the message of human connection and memory. show less

Richard Novak is having a problem. He’s not entirely clear what that problem is. It may be the end of his life. Or at least the end of whatever was passing for his life. All he knows is that he is in pain. Excruciating pain. All over. Or maybe he was always in pain and is just now realising it. Richard is not especially in touch with his feelings, or his memories, or his ex-wife and son, who live on the other side of the country in New York. Safe to say that change is coming. And once it starts, there is no telling where it will end.

This novel starts like a Don Delillo novel of angst and estranged emotion. Everything is so at arm’s length that it feels as though the protagonist, Richard, is hardly involved. But gradually things show more start to warm up. Soon Richard is facing down his pain, battling with kidnappers and forces of nature, developing friendships with movie stars and iconic authors and even, eventually with his son. Things become almost madcap. It’s as though what started out as a Don Delillo novel transformed into a Douglas Coupland novel. Or maybe it is better to simply describe this as an A.M. Homes novel.

The writing is captivating and fresh. I never knew what would happen next. And if it was a bit thin at times, well, I suppose that is a risk for any comic writing, though this might not be best described as comic, except in the metaphysical sense. Certainly I enjoyed reading it well enough to warrant reading more by A.M. Homes. And for that, it is gently recommended. show less