The Lay of the Land

Frank Bascombe, Book 3

By: Richard Ford

Narrated by: Joe Barrett

Length: 24 hrs and 51 mins

Publisher's summary

With The Sportswriter, in 1986, Richard Ford commenced a cycle of novels that, 10 years later, after Independence Day won both the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award, was hailed by The Times of London as "an extraordinary epic [that] is nothing less than the story of the 20th century itself." Now, a decade later, Frank Bascombe returns, with a new lease on life (and real estate), and more acutely in thrall to life's endless complexities than ever before.

His story resumes in the autumn of 2000, when his trade as a realtor on the Jersey Shore is thriving, permitting him to revel in the acceptance of "that long, stretching-out time when my dreams would have mystery like any ordinary person's; when whatever I do or say, who I marry, how my kids turn out, becomes what the world, if it makes note at all, knows of me, how I'm seen, understood, even how I think of myself before whatever there is that's wild and unassuagable rises and cheerlessly hauls me off to oblivion."

But as a presidential election hangs in the balance, and a postnuclear-family Thanksgiving looms before him, along with crises both marital and medical, Frank discovers that what he terms the Permanent Period is fraught with unforeseen perils: "All the ways that life feels like life at age 55 were strewn around me like poppies."

This is a holiday, and a novel, no reader will ever forget, at once hilarious, harrowing, surprising, and profound. The Lay of the Land is astonishing in its own right and a magnificent expansion of one of the most celebrated chronicles of our time.

©2006 Richard Ford (P)2006 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

• National Book Critics Circle 2006 Award Finalist, Fiction

"The third and most eventful novel in the Frank Bascombe series." (Kirkus Reviews)
"Ford summons a remarkable voice for his protagonist, ruminant, jaunty, merciless, generous and painfully observant, building a dense narrative from Frank's improvisations, epiphanies and revisions." (Publishers Weekly)
"As ever the drama is rooted in the interior world of its authentically life-sized hero, as he logs long hours on the highways and back roads of New Jersey, taking expansive stock of middle-age defeats and registering the erosions of a brilliantly evoked landscape of suburbs, strip malls and ocean towns." (New York Times Book Review)

Parents or Divorced will "get this book"

If you could sum up The Lay of the Land in three words, what would they be?

When the best is yet to come is no longer a possibility, Your life has entered the permanent period. Frank Bascom explores and deals with life after divorce, adults kids returning home and cancer in this book that covers only 3 days in his life. It is a fascinating personality profile of Frank Bascom, realtor and the new permanent period of life.

Which scene was your favorite?

When Frank Bascom is interviewed by the detective on Thanksgiving Day ( aprx 6 hours and 14 minutes left in audio book). Frank has to explain many things to the old time cop. Cop finally explains how he just has to get people to stop killing each other- then he can retire.

Great book!

I liked this book quite a lot. There were several times that I laughed out loud so I consider the book to be quite funny. There's a really funny part that takes place when the main character (1st-person narrative) ends up stuck in a lesbian bar while waiting for his car to be repaired. The author is able to make events funny, while drawing out the seriousness and trouble that clouds our lives from time to time.

Not a lot happens in the book in terms of plot (at least until the last parts of the book). There are long and detailed descriptions of events, people, etc. that might cause many to call the book "slow." At first, that was a little off-putting, but eventually, I came to understand what the author was doing, and that style didn't make any difference to me at all at the end. I was sorry to have it end.

Themes include observations about modern life, fatherhood, loss of a child, neighbors, divorce, selling, late-middle age, cancer and more.

The narration was first rate. The reader put effort into different voices for each character, and did lots of accents (southern, midwest, East Indian and others) all of which I enjoyed.

I recommend it.

(There's a sixteen-mintute interview with the author after the end of the book, so it's not actually a 24 hour 57 minute book.)

Hyper-articulate writer/hyper-skillle reader

Can anyone alive turn a phrase better than Richard Ford? I believe listening to or reading good language can enhance the listener's/reader's language facility. Both writer and reader of Lay of the Land are inspiring.

Amusing

This was a read about everyday life, in an area of the US I’ve never visited, and from the viewpoint of a man in the decade of his life I’m preparing to enter. Character, Frank Bascombe has great insight and amusing portrayals of family members, neighbors, and friends. I may have to go back and read the previous Richard Ford novels about this character. The book did move a little slow, but I smiled quite a bit, and it was a nice change of pace from fast action or high intrigue.

This book is awful

Richard Ford’s novel Canada is one of the best I’ve ever read, so I was looking forward to diving into the rest of his work. My disappointment cannot be measured. The main character in this book is a narcissistic judge mental ass with a slight veneer of racism to go along with it. No depth no plot no no story. Just the constant snide ramblings of a man who constantly wants to remind you he has prostate cancer and drives a suburban. Ugh. Waste of time.

Interesting at first...

This is one of two books I've never finished. I listened to probably 80% of it but there was nothing holding me to the end. The author and the narrator seemed to drone on and on. I'm not saying that there was nothing good -- I still have the feeling of the beach setting and it was interesting seeing things from the perspective of the realtor. It was a picture of a person and a place... The picture just didn't move enough for me.... Maybe I'll go back finally and listen to the end of it....

On and on and on . . . blah, blah, blah

This is the first review I have ever written. I don't have time or take the time for this stuff. However, this book has driven me to it! Yes, Ford writes fabulous sentences, has a fantastic grasp of vocabulary and the "reader" sounds like he should. But OMGosh! What is the point of it all? There is no point! Just one sentence after another, and I have a Ph.D. and should be used to convoluted, pointless drivel -- and this is just too much! It's about a man my age and his daily life. Part I (of 3) covers 1 day in his life and I just can't give up two more days of my life for possibly 2 days of his! This has droned on long enough and has sealed the deal that I don't want a man in my life! So thanks Mr. Ford. I needed that! This is only the second book in my life that I just have to DELETE!

self indulgence

This is the first audiobook (out of over 150) that I couldn't finish. I almost made it through the first third, but realized that I had sufficiently experienced the mid-life crisis about which the narrator is perpetually expounding. I found myself repeatedly telling him, almost out loud, to get over it. At the point that I stopped no plot had been established. I don't give up easily, having managed to complete Proust's "Swann's Way", which was no easy feat. "The Lay of the Land" is comparable to "Portnoy's Complaint", it is difficult to maintain any empathy with the narrator. Don't waste your time on this one!

This Land is Pretty Flat

Some books are meant to be heard. This is not one of them. In many scenes, it takes 15 minutes to describe what happened in one or two minutes. It would work better for a speed reader. It would also be worth skipping a couple chapters that contributed nothing to the whole story. As a 54 years old while male, I should be able to identify with the main character, but such was not the case.

This Land is Pretty Flat

Some books are meant to be heard. This is not one of them. In many scenes, it takes 15 minutes to describe what happened in one or two minutes. It would work better for a speed reader. It would also be worth skipping a couple chapters that contributed nothing to the whole story. As a 54 years old while male, I should be able to identify with the main character, but such was not the case.