Lauren Grodstein - The Explanation for Everything

“Involving at every level: character, plot, language. One of the more complicated portraits of a father’s love for his son we’ve ever read… Highly recommended.”

“Suspense worthy of Hitchcock… This is less a novel about one imperfect citizen than a sharp account of the status- driven suburban culture that turned him into a monster of conformity.”

“Grodstein’s harsh, honest prose makes this haunting tale worthwhile.”

“Spot-on in its depiction of affection and jealousy among longtime friends; boozy suburban bashes; unrequited love; and adjusting to middle age.”

“A gripping portrayal of a suburban family in free-fall… The structure of compromise and principle supporting a happy family is precariously perched to begin with, and in Grodstein’s skilled hands love is an unstable element.”

“In her wonderful second novel, Grodstein traces a suburban crisis and gives especially perceptive attention to the father-son bond… An astute dissector of male aspiration, Grodstein brings great insight into a father’s protective urge for his son in this gripping portrait of an American family in crisis.”

The Best of Animals

Reproduction Is the Flaw of Love

A Friend of the Family

Published by

Algonquin Books of Chapel Hill

Post Office Box 2225

Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27515-2225

a division of

Workman Publishing

225 Varick Street

New York, New York 10014

© 2013 by Lauren Grodstein.

All rights reserved.

This is a work of fiction. While, as in all fiction, the literary perceptions and insights are based on experience, all names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously.

ISBN 978-1-61620-343-6