Synopses & Reviews
Set on affluent Long Island,
Aloft follows the life of a suburban, upper-middle-class man during a time of family crisis. Jerry Battle's favorite diversion is to fly his small plane over the neighboring towns and villages. When his daughter and her fiancé arrive from Oregon to announce their marriage plans, he looks back on his life and faces his disengagement with it his urge to fly solo and the people he loves.
Chang-rae Lee burst on the scene with Native Speaker, which won numerous awards, including the PEN/Hemingway Award. His second novel, A Gesture Life, established him as one of the preeminent writers of his generation. Now, with Aloft, Lee has expanded his range and proves himself a master storyteller, able to observe his characters' flaws and weaknesses and, at the same time, celebrate their humanity. Aloft is an unforgettable portrait, filled with vitality and urgency, of a man who has secured his life's dreams but who must now figure out its meaning.
Review
"A brilliant and candid parsing of the dynamics of a family of mixed heritage... a ribald look at male sexuality, a charming celebration of the solace of good food, and a sagacious and bitingly funny critique of our times." Donna Seaman, Booklist
Review
"Beautiful writing, richly drawn characters, and a powerful sense of life enduring in spite of all. A fine and very moving performance." Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Lee has dreamed up an intricate, ingratiating character and brought him halfway to life. But there is enough life in Jerry...that half is almost enough, and certainly better than nothing." A. O. Scott, The New York Times Book Review
Review
"Though race and identity once again play a part in Lee's work, Aloft, is set mostly in the world of bland privilege, and the narrative seems a composite of Wally Lamb, Anne Tyler and Richard Ford." San Francisco Chronicle
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"Lee writes with humor and acuity, swirling comic wit and subtlety into scenes so mundane and yet so poignant that the heart sighs in recognition." USA Today
Review
"[Lee] could have played it safe and continued writing about angst-driven Koreans. But in Aloft, he proves that he can evoke the desires and disappointments of the suburban territory mapped by Cheever, Yates and Updike with similar artistry and compassion." Miami Herald
Review
"It's early yet...but it seems safe to say that Aloft will be one of the best books of the year. Given the beauty of Chang-rae Lee's previous work, this isn't too surprising....Lee's genius is this confidential voice, full of cultural analysis, ironic asides, sexual candor, and unconscious revelations, laced along through one breathless paragraph after another in improbably extended sentences, perpetually buoyed by wit and insight." Ron Charles, The Christian Science Monitor (read the entire Christian Science Monitor review)
Review
"The mere existence of Aloft a novel to shelve near Updike's Rabbit quartet and Philip Roth's more recent, captivating fare made all of my bullshit multicultural predispositions fall from the sky in one scary, satisfying piece....Which is to say that Chang-rae Lee's witheringly precise capture of who we are now, including all of the textures and complexities of our multicultural nation/project, makes this novel an exhilarating read." Ted Weesner Jr., The Cincinnati Review (read the entire review from the Cincinnati Review)
Synopsis
The New York Times bestselling novel by the critically acclaimed author of Native Speaker and A Gesture Life.
At 59, Jerry Battle is coasting through life. His favorite pastime is flying his small plane high above Long Island. Aloft, he can escape from the troubles that plague his family, neighbors, and loved ones on the ground. But he can't stay in the air forever. Only months before his 60th birthday, a culmination of family crises finally pull Jerry down from his emotionally distant course.
Jerry learns that his family's stability is in jeopardy. His father, Hank, is growing increasingly unhappy in his assisted living facility. His son, Jack, has taken over the family landscaping business but is running it into bankruptcy. His daughter, Theresa, has become pregnant and has been diagnosed with cancer. His longtime girlfriend, Rita, who helped raise his children, has now moved in with another man. And Jerry still has unanswered questions that he must face regarding the circumstances surrounding the death of his late wife.
Since the day his wife died, Jerry has turned avoiding conflict into an art form-the perfect expression being his solitary flights from which he can look down on a world that appears serene and unscathed. From his comfortable distance, he can't see the messy details, let alone begin to confront them. But Jerry is learning that in avoiding conflict, he is also avoiding contact with the people he loves most."
Synopsis
First time in paperback. The
New York Times bestseller from the author of
A Gesture Life and Native Speaker.
About the Author
Chang-rae Lee, the author of A Gesture Life and Native Speaker, was selected by the New Yorker as one of the twenty best writers under the age of forty. He teaches creative writing at Princeton University.