It is a moment in the near future when the threat of terror has cultivated rage, apathy, and panic across the country. For Phil, a dermatologist at the UCLA hospital, it is a time of unease, in contrast to the days when he coasted through life on his good looks and middling charm. In addition to having to deal with his mother, Edith, who's emerging after years of grieving over her late husband, Phil has been recruited for a secret terror-response team. The assignment just may provide an ordinary man a chance at heroism.
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"As in the movie "American Beauty," and the book "Film Club," I was encouraged by the optimism for the outcome of the survivors, in "There Will Never Be Another You"."
— Jamshid (4 out of 5 stars)
“A novel alive with wit and love and energy—a book about things falling apart that turns out to be a day at the beach…Pure joy.”
— Joan Didion“Potent and poignant…A remarkable achievement.”
— The Washington Post“Unadorned pitch perfect sentences...See writes about a threatening near-future, but she also writes so well that even her most devastating lines and moments give you hope.”
— San Francisco Chronicle“See’s ability to intertwine these people’s personal worries with a collective sense of dread is what’s most impressive here, along with her trademark doomsday pluckiness. She’s the best kind of novelist to read in an emergency mood, growing calmer and more self-assured as the anxiety melts.”
— Baltimore Sun“Spare and elliptical…generous…hopeful…quirky twists and turns are closer to life as we know it than the predictable pathways of more conventional fiction.”
— Columbus Dispatch“See’s potent new novel articulates the instinctive, human impulse toward connection in the face of mortality…the fracturing and coalescing relationships mirror the drama of a possible epidemic as See’s utterly believable characters fumble for love and meaning.”
— Publishers Weekly“This timely story will appeal to many despite its reminder that life will never be what it once was.”
— AudioFile“True-to-life characters and insight into the human condition power this life-affirming novel. Readers will have no trouble identifying with the resilient protagonists, and they will find comfort in See’s nonapocalyptic vision of the future.”
— Library Journal“Artistic and soulful master achievement…The novel’s deep resonance lies in her imaginative yet meaningful juxtaposition of global issues and domestic ones.”
— Booklist“Never dull, See’s seventh [novel] throws an idiosyncratic light on our contemporary age of anxiety.”
— Kirkus" Didn't really care about any of the characters... "
— Judy, 1/16/2014" A quirky novel by Carolyn See about tangled lives in the context of a potential national catastrophe. Good conclusion. "
— Larry, 9/14/2013" Unusual and strange. Set in a security obsessed LA, the book explres the complexities of Phil the dermatologist's life - his recruitment to a top secret team at the hospital. his demanding wife, his grieving mother, his problematic children and a menacing future. Pretty good. "
— Bachyboy, 4/30/2013" I picked this up because Joan Didion gave it a thumbs up; while i love semi-nilistic California fiction (Play It As It Lays), this one really didn't do it for me. "
— Christoper, 10/9/2012" I wish I'd read this when it came out--the SARS and anthrax element feels a little dated--but really, I love everything this woman writes. "
— Monica, 2/27/2012" Didn't really like this one. "
— Mara, 4/22/2011" Neither real nor surreal enough to resonate with either heart or imagination. And the tidy closure was just, well, too tidy. "
— Cat, 2/7/2011" Loved the part of Phil and his son. It really showed the depth a father's love can reach. "
— Christine, 1/7/2011" This book is set in Los Angeles around 9/11/2001. I thought the characters lacked depth and the plot was not terribly interesting. A bunch of self-absorbed characters that I had trouble caring about. "
— Sara, 8/15/2009" so far I don't really get it, and her dialogue is appalling. People don't talk like this. Or act like this, really... "
— Adrianne, 1/17/2009Carolyn See is the author of many novels, including The Handyman and Golden Days, as well as such acclaimed works of nonfiction as Making a Literary Life and Other Dreamers and Dreaming. She is also a book critic for the Washington Post and has been on the boards of the National Book Critics Circle and PEN/West International. She has won both Guggenheim and Getty fellowships and currently teaches English at UCLA. She lives in Pacific Palisades, California.
C. J. Critt is a veteran of Broadway, regional theater, poetry slams, and solo shows. Hailed “Spoken Word Queen” by the Dallas Observer, Critt is a produced writer-director, an Audie nominee, and a CableACE Award winner.