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Ask Again Later

by Jill Davis
Ask Again Later

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  • Synopses & Reviews

ISBN13: 9780060875978
ISBN10: 0060875976
Condition: Standard


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Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments

Emily has a tendency to live with one foot out the door. For her, the best thing about a family crisis is the excuse to cut and run. When her mother dramatically announces they've found a lump, Emily gladly takes a rain check on life to be by her mother's side, leaving behind her career, her boyfriend, and those pesky, unanswerable questions about who she is and what she's doing with her life.

But back in her childhood bedroom, Emily realizes that she hasn't run fast or far enough. One evening, while her mother calls everyone in her Rolodex to brief them on her medical crisis and schedule a farewell martini, Emily opens the door, quite literally, to find her past staring her in the face. How do you forge a relationship with the father who left when you were five years old? As Emily attempts to find balance on the emotional seesaw of her life, with the help of two hopeful suitors and her Park Avenue Princess sister, she takes a no-risk job as a receptionist at her father's law firm and slowly gets to know the man she once pretended was dead.

From the brainy, breezy writer who writes like a professional comic (The Onion) and is hard to stop reading once you start (USA Today) comes a laugh-out-loud tale that confirms you can recover from your parents, the bad habit of missed opportunities, and men who romance you with meat. When opportunity knocks, it's time to stop running and start living.

Review

“Hilarious, heartfelt...Daviss witty voice is pitch-perfect. A-” Entertainment Weekly

Review

“This is one of the best books I have read so far this year.” BlogCritics Magazine

Review

“[ASK AGAIN LATER] is both very funny and deeply moving.” Booklist

Review

“Daviss book leavens regret and tragedy with a light-handed wit.” Publishers Weekly

Review

“...the humor is deftly interwoven with genuinely affecting moments that lend unexpected depth.” Elle.com

Review

“A snappy and sardonic take on learning to love your (dysfunctional) family.” Lucinda Rosenfeld, author of WHAT SHE SAW... and WHY SHE WENT HOME

Review

“ASK AGAIN LATER...rewards at every level.” Richard Russo

Review

“...youll... veer between uncontrollable laughing fits and being stunned and misty-eyed by its poignant turns.” Jancee Dunn, author of But Enough About Me: A Jersey Girl's Unlikely Adventures Among the Absurdly Famous

Review

“ASK AGAIN LATER is an engaging slice of life.” Emily Griffin, bestselling author of BABY PROOF

Review

“Jill Davis is extremely personable, courteous, and punctual.” Dave Letterman, host of "Late Show with David Letterman"

Review

“Davis makes the narrative work with effortless light humor and genuine thoughtfulness…Well-drawn characters with emotional integrity…” Kirkus Reviews

Review

"...an intriguing read." Bookreporter.com

Review

“Comedy and drama is perfectly balanced in Jill A. Davis new novel, Ask Again Later…” Connecticut Post

Review

"There are laughs, there are tears. Nice job." Connecticut Post

Review

“[The] dialogue...crackles with electricity between highly charged characters and is often as funny for whats left unsaid… Los Angeles Times

Review

“... smart-gal spin on the chick-lit formula… the writing and the characters lend the book an emotional heft.” Time Out New York

Review

"Great book! Hysterical!" Time Out New York

Review

“[A] frank, funny journey…a brisk novel about reconnecting with parents…” Bookreporter.com

Review

“...an intriguing read.” Romantic Times

Review

“Great book! Hysterical!” The Today Show

Review

“There are laughs, there are tears. Nice job.” Sacramento Bee

Review

“Davis tackles real-life issues and infuses these rather somber moments with requisite levity and humor.” Bookreporter.com

Synopsis

Emily has a tendency to live with one foot out the door. When her mother dramatically announces, "They've found a lump," Emily gladly leaves behind her career, her boyfriend, and those pesky, unans­werable questions about who she is and what she's doing with her life to be by her mother's side. But back in her childhood bedroom, Emily realizes that she hasn't run fast or far enough—especially when she opens the door, quite literally, to find her past staring her in the face.

About the Author

Jill A. Davis was a writer for Late Show with David Letterman, where she received five Emmy nominations. She has also written several television pilots and movie screenplays in addition to short stories. She lives in New York City with her husband and daughter.

5 1

What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating 5 (1 comments)

`
Grady Harp , January 29, 2008 (view all comments by Grady Harp)
"Ask again later"....It's my favorite non-answer' Jill A. Davis somehow manages to write hysterically funny stories about the oddest people in a manner so smart and lucid that the reader is left chuckling with every page - while at the same time falling in love with the zany heroine of her latest book, Emily Rhode ('or Road' or 'Rowed' or even 'Rode', depending on the state of mind and at times acerbic patter of this marvelously created character). This is a book that sparkles with witty prose, high and low humor, and surprisingly a sensitive degree of philosophy about the current condition of life we are all living. The balance between funny and touching keeps the scales even, making the reader laugh at situations that in themselves are not at all funny - unless you have the perspective of Emily 'whatever'. Emily is a trained lawyer whose career is put on hold with the sudden hyper-dramatic news of her mother Joanie's lump. No, cancer isn't funny, but Joanie is such a wildly entertaining character that when Emily moves in to care for her, all goes slightly bizarre. We meet the father Jim who left the family when Emily was very young and for whom she has no concern, the spendthrift airhead sister Marjorie who treats the world like a shopping party, Rick the boyfriend of Emily to whom she cannot commit, Perry her gay therapeutic friend, and Paul her therapist whose sessions contain some of the most hilarious (and most insightful) moments in the book. Divided into very short, titled 'chapters', Davis ably lets us get close to Emily by exploring her foibles and her perception of the world and her family by means of what could be stand-up comedy routines - until the sadness peaks through. Marriage, therapy, death, fatal illnesses, fidelity, menial jobs for overeducated people, failed relationships - all are grist for Davis' keen mind and wit. An example of Davis' writing: 'As she's lying there waiting for surgery, I imagine a cancerous Pac-Man - or Lady Pac-Man - running through her body eating up her healthy tissues, her life, expanding its mass and taking over. Devouring the flesh that nurtured me, or longed to. I want to scream. And I'm mad that I'm of a generation that can best relate to parent's cancer to a video game.' And that is only a short tidbit of the superb writing by Jill A. Davis. This is a smart book, exceedingly well written, and one of the most entertaining reads of the year! Now in paperback... Grady Harp

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Product Details

ISBN:
9780060875978
Binding:
Trade Paperback
Publication date:
01/29/2008
Publisher:
HARPERCOLLINS PUBLISHERS
Pages:
246
Height:
.68IN
Width:
5.32IN
Thickness:
.68 in.
Number of Units:
1
Copyright Year:
2008
UPC Code:
2800060875970
Author:
Jill A. Davis
Author:
Jill Davis
Subject:
Fathers and daughters
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Subject:
General Fiction
Subject:
Humorous fiction

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