'Masterly ... moving ... This remarkable elegiac novel contemplates the desperate sadness of life with a profound, and humorous, dignity. It is an original and admirable achievement'

Evening Standard

'Richard Ford is a daring and intelligent novelist with an extraordinary ear for dialogue and the ability to create everyday life with stunning accuracy'

New York Times Book Review

'Richard Ford's sportswriter is a bird rare in life and nearly extinct in fiction'

Tobias Wolff

'Riveting reading ... a memorable book'

Observer