'It is nothing less than the story of the twentieth century itself ... an extraordinary epic'

The Times

'The best novel out of America in many years, a funny, achingly sad account of a father's disastrous outing with his son - and much else besides ... Simply, a masterpiece'

John Banville, Guardian

'Ford's mature prose style, with its long, sinuous, lavishly articulate sentences, is now one of the glories of modern American writing'

Jonathan Raban, Observer

'My novel of the year is Independence Day, the unexpectedly symphonic sequel to The Sportswriter, which is coming to be seen as the landmark American novel of the decade'

Gordon Burn, Independent