Man Alive!
A Novel
-
-
5.0 • 2 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
A warm, funny, and profoundly original novel about a family dealing with disaster, from a rising literary star
All it takes is a quarter to change pediatric psychiatrist Dr. Owen Lerner's life. When the coin he's feeding into a parking meter is struck by lightning, Lerner survives, except that now all he wants to do is barbecue. What will happen to his patients, who rely on him to make sense of their world? More important, what will happen to his family?
The bolt of lightning that lifts Lerner into the air sends the entire Lerner clan into free fall. Mary Kay Zuravleff depicts family-on-family pain with generosity and devastating humor as she explores how much we are each allowed to change within a family—and without. Man Alive! captures Owen and Toni Lerner and their nearly grown children so vividly you'll be looking over your shoulder to make sure the author hasn't been watching your own family in action.
A Washington Post Notable Fiction Book of 2013
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
"What a fragile ecosystem a family is." Zuravleff's (The Bowl Is Already Broken) novel is a half-wacky, half-sobering portrait of a family headed off the rails. When child psychiatrist Dr. Owen Lerner is struck by lightning at a parking meter, the fallout affects the other Lerners 21-year-old twins Ricky and Will, their 16-year-old sister Brooke, and mom Toni in more ways than one. As Owen slowly recovers, instead of treating his patients and acting normal, he nurses newfound obsessions with grilling and raising chickens, both of which make his family more unhinged. The boys latch onto unhealthy diversions for Will, it's drugs and booze; Ricky develops a quixotic crush on his professor and her husband while Brooke grows closer to her domineering boyfriend. When faced with Owen's antics (like a new tattoo that will mark him as "belonging to the lightning"), it's all Toni can do to keep from leaving the marriage. At times, Owen's kooky predicament threatens to overpower other subplots, especially those that arguably warrant more attention. But the question throughout remains: which Lerner is the sanest one?
