Hard Laughter: A Novel [Paperback]

Anne Lamott (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: April 15, 1979

Anne Lamott's poignant first novel, reissued in an attractive new edition.

Writer (and sometime housecleaner) Jennifer is twenty-three when her beloved father, Wallace, is diagnosed with a brain tumor. This catastrophic discovery sets off Anne Lamott's unexpectedly sweet and funny first novel, which is made dramatic not so much by Wallace's illness as by the emotional wake it sweeps under Jen and her brothers, self-contained Ben and feckless, lovable Randy. With characteristic affection and accuracy, Lamott sketches this offbeat family and their nearest and dearest as they draw ever closer in the intimacy Jen prizes "among the other estimable things: good music, good hard laughter, good sex, good industry, and good books."

Editorial Reviews

Review

"The appeal of this book is . . . that it has much to say about how a good family works . . . in times both hard and easy . . . It's a moving and strangely joyful book, a kind of celebration, and it's written with an assurance far beyond the reach of most first novelists."--Anne Tyler, The New York Times Book Review

"If love is details, so is storytelling, and Anne Lamott excels at it. Her way with analogy, metaphor, and evocative detail is subtle; her ability to shift from the specific to the general to the specific again, superb."--Suzanne Mantell, The Nation

About the Author

Anne Lamott is the author of five novels and two works of nonfiction, Operating Instructions and Bird by Bird. She lives in Northern California.

Product Details

• Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: North Point Press; First Edition edition (April 15, 1979)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0865472807
• ISBN-13: 978-0865472808
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.5 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (29 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #492,858 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Anne Lamott is the author of the New York Times bestsellers Grace (Eventually), Plan B, Traveling Mercies, and Operating Instructions, as well as seven novels, including Rosie and Crooked Little Heart. She is a past recipient of a Guggenheim Fellowship.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

39 of 39 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Poignant..., May 14, 2003

By 

CoffeeGurl - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Hard Laughter: A Novel (Paperback)

Reading one of Anne Lamott's novels is like taking a refreshing cool bath on the hottest day of the year; it quenches the soul. Additionally, her wonderfully gritty voice resonates from the pages. The story of a family's struggle to keep the happiness going through the most poignant and disarming moments of their lives is insightful, touching and memorable. Hilarious and poignant as ever, Lamott again illustrates how her characters make everything difficult seem worth undertaking. All in all, a wonderful and illuminating read...

42 of 44 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Hard Laughter - A Moving and Funny Novel about Family Pain, June 1, 1997

By A Customer

This review is from: Hard Laughter: A Novel (Paperback)

I stumbled onto Anne Lamott while grocery shopping. Marginally coping with a new baby and a three year old I picked up "Operating Instructions-A Journal of My Son's First Year" and threw it into my cart. It quickly became my book of "daily affirmations" for the less than perfect parent. With hopeful anticipation I searched for more of her writing and found "Hard Laughter". I wasn't disappointed. The characters came alive and I realized the author was writing about her own family. These were the same voices I had grown to like so much in her journal. Once again her imperfect, humorous, messy, love-filled life lifted my spirits. I laughed even as I read of her father's diagnosis and treatment of brain cancer. The only disappointment was that it ended too soon and I had to leave the characters I felt I knew so well. I can't wait for more Lamott

33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Love, not 'morality,' is the soul of this book, October 18, 2000

By 

Nick Ingram - See all my reviews

This review is from: Hard Laughter: A Novel (Paperback)

Laughter can be forced or cheap or light - and then there are the moments when the laughter is best, usually because there is some equal pressure not to laugh, some pain that is so close it hurts to laugh, but you must anyway. Anne Lamott wrote, what is for me, an exquisite book about an unspeakable time in life - when a parent becomes gravely ill.

I believe in these characters - precisely because they aren't predictable or tidy. They have big gaps in their development, like most people do. They fall apart and put themselves back together in unexpected, astonishing ways. Each one survives in spite of and because of their love of one another.

It is a book of unusual relationships during the days of an extraordinary time. Lamott introduces each character and their actions with a generous spirit. The reader by turns loves, understands, is appalled by, then forgives and loves again each of them.

I hated to leave them when the book was over. I wanted to have a beer with them, to take a walk on the beach with them, to laugh with them long and hard at how much life hurts sometimes - and how grand it is to be alive.

I recommend this book to anyone who knows the pain and joy of loving extraordinary people. If you want a large-hearted soul to spend time with, read Anne Lamott's "Hard Laughter" - you won't be disappointed.