Jack Paperback – September 5, 1990 by A.M. Homes
 
In Jack, A. M. Homes, author of the forthcoming novel The Unfolding, gives us a teenager who wants nothing more than to be normal—even if being normal means having divorced parents and a rather strange best friend. But when Jack’s father takes him out in a rowboat on Lake Watchmayoyo and tells his son he’s gay, nothing will ever be normal again. Out of Jack’s struggle to redefine what “family” means, A. M. Homes crafts a novel of enormous humor, charm, and resonance, the most convincing, funny, and insightful novel about adolescence since The Catcher in the Rye.
 
From Publishers Weekly
Jack is almost 16 as the story opens, struggling to keep life normal in the wake of his parents' divorce some years earlier. During a weekend outing, Jack's father admits to being a homosexual, throwing Jack's psyche and social life for a loop. Homes " perfectly captures the feelings, actions and even the speech cadences of a typical adolescent American male," commended PW. Author tour.
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Review
“A moving novel, and a very refreshing one. Jack is such an engaging, attractive human being, it’s a pleasure to believe in him.” —David Foster Wallace

“The engaging, doggedly funny [Jack] is likable from the first paragraph, a good kid caught in circumstances too much for him. And in the particulars of those circumstances, A. M. Homes touches upon something unique. Ms. Homes handles the big subjects subtly, deftly and with an appealing lack of melodrama.”—The New York Times Book Review

“A. M. Homes has created a most endearing teenager, and an intensely real world around him .... A fine book.”—Hilma Wolitzer
From the Inside Flap
In Jack, A. M. Homes gives us a teenager who wants nothing more than to be normal -- even if being normal means having divorced parents and a rather strange best friend. But when Jack's father takes him out in a rowboat on Lake Watchmayoyo and tells his son he's gay, nothing will ever be normal again. Out of Jack's struggle to redefine what "family" means, A. M. Homes crafts a novel of enormous humor, charm, and resonance, the most convincing, funny, and insightful novel about adolescence since The Catcher In The Rye.
From the Back Cover
In Jack, A. M. Homes gives us a teenager who wants nothing more than to be normal--even if being normal means having divorced parents and a rather strange best friend. But when Jack's father takes him out in a rowboat on Lake Watchmayoyo and tells his son he's gay, nothing will ever be normal again. Out of Jack's struggle to redefine what "family" means, A. M. Homes crafts a novel of enormous humor, charm, and resonance, the most convincing, funny, and insightful novel about adolescence since "The Catcher in the Rye.
About the Author
A. M. Homes is the author of over 10 books including the novels May We Be Forgiven and Music for Torching; and the short story collection, Things You Should Know. Homes’s work has been translated into over 20 languages and she is a frequent contributor to Art Forum, Harpers, Granta, and more.
 
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