Synopses & Reviews
'A breakout new novel from the critically acclaimed novelist and playwright Joe Meno, author of Hairstyles of the Damned.
Praise for The Great Perhaps. . .
\'The Great Perhapsis a darkly funny, lyrical, and shrewdly observant chronicle of a family on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Joe Meno has the rare ability to evoke midlife melancholy and teenage angst with equal authority.\"Tom Perrotta, author of Electionand The Abstinence Teacher
\'I think The Great Perhapsis the wisest, most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since The Corrections. A marvelous book.\"Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspottingand Crime
. . . and for Joe Meno
\'Joe Meno is an interesting case: a punk/noir stylist who can imitate something more rarefied, poetic, and universal.\"Elle
\'Meno is the closest thing [Chicago\"s] got to a literary ambassador.\"GQ
\'What to make of Joe Meno, whose icepick-sharp books include many elements that might reasonably be described as quirky, but are rather heartfelt, beautifully written and vivid as a bad dream\'\"or a very, very good one?\"Washington Post Express'
Review
'Joe Meno\"s fiction has it all--humor and heart, moral gravitas, and a formal playfulness that catches you pleasantly by surprise.'
Review
"A darkly funny, lyrical, and shrewdly observant chronicle of a family on the verge of a nervous breakdown." Booklist
Review
"Meno masterfully, and meaningfully, conflates the fantastic with the everyday. . . . Tender, funny, spooky, and gripping." Donna Seaman
Review
"The wisest, most humane and transcendent novel on the contemporary family since . . . . A marvelous book." Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting
Review
"Meno is thinking hard about why the world is the way it is and about where hope for change might reasonably lie." Irvine Welsh, author of Trainspotting
Synopsis
The sky is falling for the Caspers, a family of cowards: for Jonathan, a paleontologist, searching in vain for a prehistoric giant squid; for his wife, Madeline, an animal behaviorist with a failing experiment; for their daughter, Amelia, a disappointed teenage revolutionary; for her younger sister, Thisbe, on a frustrated search for God; and for grandfather Henry, who wants to disappear, limiting himself to eleven words a day, then ten, then nine' Each fears uncertainty and the possibilities that accompany it. When Jonathan and Madeline suddenly decide to separate, this nuclear family is split, each member forced to confront his or her own cowardice, finally coming to appreciate the cloudiness of the modern age.
With wit and humor, The Great Perhapspresents a revealing look at anxiety, ambiguity, and the need for complicated answers to complex questions.
Synopsis
The sky is falling for the Caspers, a family of cowards. When the parents decide to separate, this family is forced to appreciate the cloudiness of this modern age.
Synopsis
"This ambitious, adventurous writer . . . recalls Anton Chekhov with his amused appreciation of human foibles."--Wendy Smith,
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About the Author
Nelson Algren Literary Award winner Joe Menois the author of four novels and two short story collections, including Demons in the Spring. He is a professor of creative writing at Columbia College Chicago, where he lives with his wife and daughter.