Critics' Opinion:
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Published Jul 2008
344 pages
Genre: Literary Fiction
Publication Information
Paperback Original.
Weakness has always been a concern for William Miller: growing up vegetarian in a family of bodybuilders will do that to a person. But William is further weakened by the death of his mother, the arrival of a new step-mother, and his irrepressible crush on his new step-sister, Lulu.
As Lulu faces down her own challenges, William watches his life shift into tumult and despair. Once Lulu departs for college, Will goes into the world to find himself — discovering Western philosophy, a cruel dating world, enduring friendship, and, ultimately, his true calling. Emboldened by his turn as a late-night radio personality, Will rescues himself from the self-image of weakness he'd long wished to escape.
This debut novel explores the fundamental difference between where we come from — and the endless possibilities of where we may go.
"Starred Review. Evison provides readers a viciously funny and deeply felt portrayal of a blended family and one man's thwarted longing." - Publishers Weekly.
"Evison's debut novel glows with evocative details and unforgettable scenes...story of sweet complexity, about the people you want to hold on to, and the ones you have to let go." - Time Out New York.
"A low-energy novel about obsession; the sparks never fly." - Kirkus Reviews.
"The star-crossed lovers at the center of All About Lulu forge a middle ground between Archie and Veronica and Kurt and Courtney. Evison has delivered a witty, understated, heartfelt, and, at times, almost unnervingly honest debut." - Adam Langer, author of Crossing California.
"Jonathan Evison is a killer talent, and All About Lulu is the kind of novel readers have been hungry for: Funny, smart, entertaining -- an all around delight. Literary fiction needs more books like this; maybe then people would stop talking about the Death of the Novel and just read and enjoy themselves" - Darin Strauss, author of Chang and Eng.
This information about All About Lulu was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Photo: Algonquin Books
Jonathan Evison is the author of the novels All About Lulu, West of Here, The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving, This Is Your Life, Harriet Chance!, Lawn Boy, and Legends of the North Cascades. He lives with his wife and family in Washington State.
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