Not a crime novel or fantasy even if extraneous factors like a terrible earthquake that devastates the state of Israel and causes its enemies to ally to force its final destruction, but a terribly idiosyncratic first novel in 10 years from the author of Everything is Illuminated which I was a great admirer of. The aforesaid cataclysm serves as a background for the slow, finely-etched falling apart at the seams of a Jewish family in Brooklyn. At times truly hilarious and with offspring even more literate and annoying than those in the Outnumbered TV sitcom, this is also a serious examination of modern angst and, at the same time, a devastating X-ray of the intellectual male of the species (as closely modelled on the author himself who went through a divorce with wife and writer Nicole Kraus during the gestation of the novel). It's a book that people will love and hate, a long book, a major book, a curious book. But who said novels were mere entertainment (although at times I did laugh out very loud...)? ~ Maxim Jakubowski
| Primary Genre | Modern and Contemporary Fiction |
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Win a Copy of The Sisters of Hope Square by Faith Hogan and a Bucket List Scratch Book
Closing date: 04/07/2026
God asked Abraham to sacrifice his beloved son Isaac, and Abraham replied obediently, 'Here I am'. This is the story of a fracturing family in a moment of crisis. Over the course of three weeks in present-day Washington DC, three sons watch their parents' marriage falter and their family home fall apart. Meanwhile, a larger catastrophe is engulfing another part of the world: a massive earthquake devastates the Middle East, sparking a pan-Arab invasion of Israel. With global upheaval in the background and domestic collapse in the foreground, Jonathan Safran Foer asks us - what is the true meaning of home? Can one man ever reconcile the conflicting duties of his many roles - husband, father, son? And how much of life can a person bear?
Here I am features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Family Drama, eBooks of the Month, General Fiction, Fiction, Recommendations
Here I am is available in , Paperback, Hardback
Here I am was written by Jonathan Safran Foer and published by Penguin Books Ltd
Here I am has 571 pages
£11.69
