My New American Life - by Francine Prose (Paperback)

About the Book

Contemporary America is at its most hilarious and dreadful in this darkly humorous novel of mismatched aspirations, Albanian gangsters, and the ever-elusive American dream set in the charged aftermath of 9/11.

Book Synopsis

"Francine Prose is a world-classsatirist who's also a world-class storyteller."--Russell Banks

Francine Prose captures contemporary America at itsmost hilarious and dreadful in My New American Life, a darkly humorousnovel of mismatched aspirations, Albanian gangsters, and the ever-elusiveAmerican dream. Following her New York Times bestselling novels BlueAngel and A Changed Man, Prose delivers the darkly humorous storyof Lula, a twenty-something Albanian immigrant trying to find stability andcomfort in New York City in the charged aftermath of 9/11. Set at the frontlines of a cultural war between idealism and cynicism, inalienable rights andimplacable Homeland Security measures, My New American Life is a movingand sardonic journey alongside a cast of characters exploring what it means tobe American.

From the Back Cover

Lula, a twenty-six-year-old Albanian woman living surreptitiously in New York City on an expiring tourist visa, hopes to make a better life for herself in America. When she lands a job caring for a rebellious high schooler in wealthy, suburban New Jersey, it seems that the American dream may finally be within reach. But things take a sinister turn when Lula's Albanian "brothers" show up in a black SUV to remind her that all Albanians are family--and that Lula's family has a very serious favor to ask.

Set in the aftermath of 9/11, My New American Life offers a biting and darkly humorous portrait of an era when dreams and ideals began to give way to cynicism, fear, and still-resonating questions about what it means to be an American.

Review Quotes

"A superb novel . . . a wickedly entertaining read. . . . Prose is on top of her game . . . the fluidity of the prose surpassing, I think, her work in Blue Angel." - The Millions
"A fast-moving novel . . . [that] brings together cultural satire, mystery, a psychosexual thriller, and political outrage. . . . Exceptionally entertaining, fun to read in its sentences, incidents, scenes." - Michael Dirda, New York Review of Books
"She's a perfect observer of American life in the opening decade of the 21st century. . . . Wry . . . witty . . . a book that brims with smart surprises." - Ron Carlson, New York Times Book Review
"Prose . . . is, as always, sharply intelligent." - NPR.org
"There has been a lot written about the Bush and Cheney days, but rarely from such an amusing perspective . . . at once honest, complicated, sexy, funny and--ultimately--uplifting." - BookPage
"In My New American Life, Francine Prose cracks open that old chestnut about the immigrant reinvention experience and injects, yes, new life into it." - USA Today
"In My New American Life, Francine Prose cracks open that old chestnut about the immigrant reinvention experience and injects, yes new life into it. . . . The novel deftly shifts from satirical to sincere, . . . the denouement . . . is subtly, surprisingly hopeful." - USA Today
"Fun and funny, ...a satire of immigration and its discontents..." - San Francisco Chronicle
"Prose's characters in MY NEW AMERICAN LIFE are complex and brilliantly drawn (culturally distinct but without the usual clichés)." - Simon Van Booy, Bomb Magazine
"Prose's characters in My New American Life are complex and brilliantly drawn (culturally distinct but without the usual cliches), and not limited to human beings--as the fiery animosity toward the administration of that epoch, which tears through the narrative, is a character in and of itself, chronicling the rhetoric of a generation." - Simon Van Booy, Bomb Magazine
"A tangy mixture of satire and sentiment. . . . Ms. Prose uses her heroine's outside status to make a lot of funny . . . observations about the cosseted life of well-to-do Americans." - Michiko Kakutani, New York Times
"Prose succeeds by transforming anxiety into compassion--it's a little lever that gets tripped when we truly imagine what another person feels." - Los Angeles Times
"Prose is in her sweet spot as a nimble chronicler of contemporary culture." - Entertainment Weekly
"Prose spins the many straws of American culture into a golden tale, shimmering with hilarious, if blistering, satire." - Helen Simonson, Washington Post
"My New American Life is--happily--vintage Prose: cheerfully pessimistic, smart, funny, with characters unnervingly spot-on in their stages of outrage, denial, malaise or disillusionment." - Miami Herald
"Prose's real aim is to characterize and caricature modern American life, mostly in a gentle way that will leave readers smarter than they were before..." - St. Louis Post-Dispatch
"Utterly charming. Savvy about the shady practices of both US immigration authorities and immigrants themselves... Entertaining, light yet not trivial, a joy to read." - Lionel Shriver
"An illuminating and ultimately upbeat look at America's immigrant situation that all fiction readers will enjoy." - Barbara Hoffert, Library Journal
"Prose is dazzling in her sixteenth book of spiky fiction, a fast-flowing, bittersweet, brilliantly satirical immigrant story that subtly embodies the cultural complexity and political horrors of the Balkans and Bush-Cheney America." - Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)
"Nothing is beyond the artistic reach of Francine Prose" - Shelf Awareness