Want Not
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- USD 14.99
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- USD 14.99
Descripción editorial
A "shrewd, funny, and sometimes devastating" novel about the things we desire and the things we throw away (Entertainment Weekly).
A New York Times Notable Book
A highly inventive, corrosively funny story of our times, Want Not exposes three different worlds in various states of disrepair—a young freegan couple living off the grid in New York City; a once-prominent linguist, sacked at midlife by the dissolution of his marriage and his father's losing battle with Alzheimer's; and a self-made debt-collecting magnate, whose brute talent for squeezing money out of unlikely places has yielded him a royal existence, trophy wife included. Want and desire propel these characters forward toward something, anything, more, until their worlds collide, briefly, randomly, yet irrevocably, in a shattering ending that will haunt readers long after the last page is turned.
"Its pleasures are endless."—Joshua Ferris, author of Then We Came to the End
"Terrific…The novel may begin with prickly satire, it may dig deep into America's disposable lifestyle, but it ultimately pivots to scenes of surprising tenderness…a novel to hoard."—The Washington Post
"Leaps nimbly from topic to topic…from freeganism to conspicuous consumption; from Manhattan's Alphabet City to residential New Jersey to the backwoods of Tennessee; and from neighbors with nothing but geographical location in common to sisters who share nothing but blood….Sitting down with Want Not is like finding yourself opposite the most interesting person at a dinner party. It pulls you in immediately; makes you shake your head in wonder and delight at your new companion's wit, originality, and compelling turns of phrase; and, best of all, surprises you into laughter."—Pittsburgh Post-Gazette
"For readers who relish extravagant language, scathing wit and philosophical heft, Want Not wastes nothing."—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This ambitious, if somewhat overlong second novel from Miles (Dear American Airlines) concerns the tribulations of three very different, but interconnected, families in the New York City metropolitan area, beginning during Thanksgiving weekend 2007. Talmadge Bertrand and Micah Rye are "freegan" squatters in downtown Manhattan, subsisting on what they collect from dumpsters. After Micah becomes pregnant, Talmadge begins questioning whether their lifestyle is suited to raising a child. Elwin Cross Jr., a middle-aged linguistics professor living in suburban New Jersey, has recently been left by his wife, Maura, for one of her publicity clients. Distraction from his troubles comes from an offer to consult on a contentious government panel studying the safe, long-term disposal of radioactive waste. Forty-something mother and part-time actress Sara Masoli struggles with her husband Brian's tragic death in the 9/11 attacks, while raising her headstrong teenage daughter, Alexis. Sara's current husband, the smart but immature Dave, runs a profitable, shady debt-collection agency. Though an excess of backstory and character detail sometimes slows the book's pace, mordant humor and a well-constructed plot manage to hold together Miles's sophomore effort.
