French Exit

From bestselling author Patrick deWitt, a brilliant and darkly comic novel about a wealthy widow and her adult son who flee New York for Paris in the wake of scandal and financial disintegration. Frances Price - tart widow, possessive mother, and Upper East Side force of nature - is in dire straits, beset by scandal and impending bankruptcy. Her adult son Malcolm is no help, mired in a permanent state of arrested development. And then there's the Price's aging cat, Small Frank, who Frances believes houses the spirit of her late husband, an infamously immoral litigator and world-class cad whose gruesome tabloid death rendered Frances and Malcolm social outcasts. Putting penury and pariahdom behind them, the family decides to cut their losses and head for the exit. One ocean voyage later, the curious trio land in their beloved Paris, the City of Light serving as a backdrop not for love or romance, but self destruction and economical ruin - to riotous effect. A number of singular characters serve to round out the cast: a bashful private investigator, an aimless psychic proposing a seance, and a doctor who makes house calls with his wine merchant in tow, to name a few. Brimming with pathos, French Exit is a one-of-a-kind 'tragedy of manners, ' a send-up of high society, as well as a moving mother/son caper which only Patrick deWitt could conceive and execute.

About the Author :
Patrick deWitt is the author of the critically acclaimed Ablutions: Notes for a Novel, as well as The Sisters Brothers, which was short-listed for the Booker Prize. Born in British Columbia, he has also lived in California and Washington, and now resides in Portland, Oregon. Lorna Raver, named one of AudioFile magazine's Best Voices of the Year, has received numerous Audie nominations and AudioFile Earphones Awards. An experienced stage actress, she has also guest-starred on many top television series and starred in director Sam Raimi's film Drag Me to Hell. Among her many Blackstone titles are The Age of Innocence, Up from Orchard Street, The Lodger, Selected Readings from the Portable Dorothy Parker, and Diamond Ruby.

Review :
French Exit made me so happy-I feel as if I have downed a third martini, stayed up past sunrise, and still woken up refreshed. Brilliant, addictive, funny, and wise, deWitt's latest has enough charm to last you long after you've put it down, which is what so many of us need in a book. I think you need it, too. -- "Andrew Sean Greer, Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Less" A relentlessly absorbing feat of novelistic art. -- "Wells Tower, author of Everything Ravaged, Everything Burned, on The Sisters Brothers" A splendid work of historical fiction that proudly wore its comic influences...on its broad and violence-scarred shoulders. -- "Washington Post on The Sisters Brothers" Acclaimed author deWitt crafts a story that entertains to the last page...In the long view, the moral seems to be that money can't buy love, so you might as well spend the cash. General fiction readers who enjoy the ironic and absurd will find this book amusing. -- "Library Journal" Entertaining...DeWitt's novel is full of vibrant characters taking good-natured jabs at cultural tropes; readers will be delighted. -- "Publishers Weekly" My favorite book of his yet. The dialogue is dizzyingly good, the world so weird and fresh. A triumph from a writer truly in the zone. -- "Maria Semple, author of Where'd You Go, Bernadette" Quick and funny and thoughtful and moving and super. -- "New York Times on Undermajordomo Minor" Sharply observed moments give deWitt's well-written novel more depth than the usual comedy of manners...A bright, original yarn with a surprising twist. -- "Kirkus Reviews" The first time I read French Exit, I raced through, impatient to know the fates of its characters. Then I turned back to page one to enjoy Patrick deWitt's understated satire and casually brutal wit. -- "Nell Zink, author of Mislaid"