Why She Went Home Why She Went Home Why She Went Home

You have to love her, even when you're laughing at her--Phoebe Fine, that is, the star of this hilariously eccentric and affecting new novel. On the cusp of thirty, Phoebe has fled the high life and, ultimately, the no life of trying and failing to be somebody in Manhattan. She returns to her parents' Depression-era bungalow across the river in New Jersey, the house she grew up in, to lie low with the crabgrass and dust bunnies and memories of her childhood, and perhaps just be herself. Easier said than done. Once resettled, Phoebe hatches a plan to resell her neighbors' garbage on eBay, begins work on a solo album for electric violin and voice called Bored and Lonely, and accepts a date with the conductor of the Newark Symphony Orchestra, Roget Mankuvsky, a man with acid-washed jeans and a mysterious past. And so, with the hope of progress on both fronts, Phoebe's search for a good way to make a living and a good man to make a life with continues. In this second installment of Phoebe Fine's life story, author Lucinda Rosenfeld raises the emotional and romantic stakes. Though still consumed with appearances, including her own, Phoebe now has serious grown-up issues to deal with--her mother's illness, a hostile and competitive older sister with marital problems, and a moral and financial crisis involving a viola that may be worth millions of dollars. But the comic notes prevail. The question is, will Phoebe? From the Hardcover edition.

Review :
"Funny, sassy...Rosenfeld's style is witty and winning." -"Publisher's Weekly" "Twenty- and thirtysomethings experiencing the same ennui as Phoebe will relate to her struggles in this charming, often hilarious novel." -"Booklist ""Who knew that a voice this hysterically funny can render family life with such sadness and depth. By the fifth page, I was ready to follow Lucinda Rosenfeld's heroine to hell and back, not to mention her native New Jersey. Take this book home with you!" -Gary Shteyngart, author of The Russian Debutante's Handbook "With swift humor and intriguing melancholy Rosenfeld gets to the heart of the struggle of growing up. She captures what it feels like to move away from the bright lights, and into the real world, where your childhood is either squarely behind you-or you're on the verge of re-creating it. Either way, it's scary, fun and filled with surprises." -Jill Davis, author of Girls' Poker Night "Lucinda Rosenfeld writes about all the things that everyone thinks about their family but is too polite or timid to say. In a voice that is bitingly funny, neurotically exacting, and full of astute asides, Rosenfeld considers the question of how much a person's beginnings actually matter in the end. Why She Went Home's candid take on family values couldn't come at a better time." -Bliss Broyard, author of My Father, Dancing "You'd be digging through the neighbor's garbage too, selling your treasures on eBay, if you'd lived through Phoebe Fine's recent days. She quit the band, and then that bleak fussy Manhattan lifestyle among the young and fitful, to care for her ailing mother, who's quit the viola. She falls for the bullying, noxious conductor ofNewark, New Jersey's own symphony, a man who rubs the bottom of a violin like an infant's belly, who flails on the podium like a 'trapped bat.' But Phoebe's dad won't stop squeaking his oboe and she cant' love anybody hard enough to keep him from getting fired. In this this hilarious second novel, Lucinda Rosenfeld tries but luckily can't save Phoebe from selling off those last few sweet, raunchy dreams of her youth." -Matthew Klam, author of Sam the Cat and Other Stories "From the Hardcover edition."