Rating: 
Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: In some respects, "Independence Day" is the best book I've ever read. Richard Ford is simply brilliant at capturing the uncapturable.He is definitely the most skilled writer I've ever read when it comes to translating onto the page just what goes on in the human mind and heart as they struggle to cope with pain, loss, disappointment, and ultimately regeneration. "Independence Day" is an interior monologue chronicling three days in the life of Frank Bascombe, former sportswriter turned realty agent, who is attempting to make some sort of real connection with his estranged teenage son. At the same time, Frank is struggling to be reborn from a self-imposed but seemingly inevitable cocoon of mid-life, post-divorce complacency, which he has termed "the existence period". Ford's perception and empathy are his greatest tools as a writer. There are brilliantly beautiful moments of emotional honesty in this book that resonate like the searing afterimage of sunlight glimpsed on a stretch of side-of-the-road evening rail. I cannot say enough good things about Richard Ford. I am in awe of him and would like to thank him for his wonderful contributions to my reading life. I highly recommend him to anyone who cares deeply about character and getting at what it means to be human. Ford once wrote, "If loneliness is the disease, the story is the cure." Nothing could be more true of this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Wish I could give it 10 stars
Review: This is a book that is fit to win the Nobel as well as the Pulitzer. I read it and heard it on tape and was mesmerized (Recorded Books, Inc. has it and the reader, Richard Poe, is brilliant). It made me feel wonderful - peaceful - that a great book could be written about a good, good man. It's funny, sweet, sad - Richard Ford has given me a gift and I thank him. I love that a lot of his "good intentions" go to hell, but that doesn't change his sense of humor or his basic love of life. His characters are priceless: the pathetic couple excited to buy a home in New Jersey only to find that they can't really afford it; Frank's hinky son; his kooky (and ungrateful) tenants. I love Frank Bascombe - hope there's going to be more about him - long may he wave.
Rating: 
Summary: Boredom, thy name is Independence Day
Review: "Internal dialogue" seem to be the buzz words for the positive reviews I have read about this book. However, I fail to see this as a positive endorsement. The internal dialogue in this novel never takes the reader beyond the average and mundane. Maybe that's the point. Maybe this is supposed to be a portrait of an average middle-aged American man going through all too common problems: death, divorce, raising troubled teens, disappointment, boredom, etc. If that is the case, then Ford achieves his goal. The problem is, most of us have enough mundane thoughts running through our heads. Reading someone else's mundane thoughts just leaves you feeling...well, mundane. Yes, Richard Ford has an obvious talent for writing well. His prose is good. Never once in the course of reading his novel did I question his skills as a writer (and that is definitely not something I can say with every book I read). But, writing well isn't always what makes a great novel. Great novels, in my opinion, capture you and take you somewhere new and interesting, not somewhere mundane and average. If you are the type of person who enjoys reading "slice of life" portraits of the obvious and average, then this is your book. If, however, you thrive on characterization and plot, then this book is definitely not worth your time. (I cannot in all good conscience give this book less than three stars because Richard Ford is obviously a good writer. However, if I were to base my rating on the pleasure of the read alone, I would give it only two stars.)
Rating:
Summary: The best book I've ever read
Review: In some respects, "Independence Day" is the best book I've ever read. Richard Ford is simply brilliant at capturing the uncapturable. He is definitely the most skilled writer I've ever read when it comes to translating onto the page just what goes on in the human mind and heart as they struggle to cope with pain, loss, disappointment, and ultimately regeneration. "Independence Day" is an interior monologue chronicling three days in the life of Frank Bascombe, former sportswriter turned realty agent, who is attempting to make some sort of real connection with his estranged teenage son. At the same time, Frank is struggling to be reborn from a self-imposed but seemingly inevitable cocoon of mid-life, post-divorce complacency, which he has termed "the existence period". Ford's perception and empathy are his greatest tools as a writer. There are brilliantly beautiful moments of emotional honesty in this book that resonate like the searing afterimage of sunlight glimpsed on a stretch of side-of-the-road evening rail. I cannot say enough good things about Richard Ford. I am in awe of him and would like to thank him for his wonderful contributions to my reading life. I highly recommend him to anyone who cares deeply about character and getting at what it means to be human. Ford once wrote, "If loneliness is the disease, the story is the cure." Nothing could be more true of this wonderful book.
Rating:
Summary: Boredom, thy name is Independence Day
Review: "Internal dialogue" seem to be the buzz words for the positive reviews I have read about this book. However, I fail to see this as a positive endorsement. The internal dialogue in this novel never takes the reader beyond the average and mundane. Maybe that's the point. Maybe this is supposed to be a portrait of an average middle-aged American man going through all too common problems: death, divorce, raising troubled teens, disappointment, boredom, etc. If that is the case, then Ford achieves his goal. The problem is, most of us have enough mundane thoughts running through our heads. Reading someone else's mundane thoughts just leaves you feeling...well, mundane. Yes, Richard Ford has an obvious talent for writing well. His prose is good. Never once in the course of reading his novel did I question his skills as a writer (and that is definitely not something I can say with every book I read). But, writing well isn't always what makes a great novel. Great novels, in my opinion, capture you and take you somewhere new and interesting, not somewhere mundane and average. If you are the type of person who enjoys reading "slice of life" portraits of the obvious and average, then this is your book. If, however, you thrive on characterization and plot, then this book is definitely not worth your time. (I cannot in all good conscience give this book less than three stars because Richard Ford is obviously a good writer. However, if I were to base my rating on the pleasure of the read alone, I would give it only two stars.)
Rating: 
Summary: 2nd installment of the life and times of Frank Bascombe.
Review: I liked this book, which is written in the first person, despite not liking the main character. This book is a sequel to 'The Sportswriter' which was a breakthrough for Richard Ford. I haven't read the first book yet, but this one takes up with Frank planning a 4th July trip with his son, who lives with his ex-wife and her new husband in another state.
The book works through a series of thoughts, reminiscences and rather mundane activities which Frank goes through before and during the weekend. Through his preparations we get a view of Franks life being an " Existence Perid", neither particularly happy nor sad, without a clear purpose. His relationship with his colleagues and clients - he is now a realtor - is, in my view, the best part of the book. The dialogue with his ex-wife and new girlfriend is extremely good, and the general craft of the book - to sustain a descriptive novel, which details ordinary events, in a monologue - is excellent. The story takes many different turns, some related, some incidental but somehow never lags. Strangely, as Frank's major purpose is to spend some time with his son, I felt the son's character and the dialogue between Father and Son, were brittle, hollow, superficial. Perhaps this was intentional, but I got no great feeling of any credible relationship between the characters.
Overall an excellent read.
Rating:
Summary: Really good
Review: I read this book first in spanish, in Chile. I really enjoyed the story and the sense of humor. No doubt about it, one of the best writers today.
Rating:
Summary: An infuriating writing style
Review: I once had a plan to read every novel that has received the Pulitzer. After reading a few, I now realize what kind of book the Board loves: stories about American men past their prime and dealing with it. Rabbit is Rich and Rabbit at Rest. American Pastoral. And now Independence Day. I can't take it anymore. Plus, my goodness, the detail. Ford spends 50 pages on showing a house to a indecisive couple. Some masochists, ahem, readers, enjoy this writing style (e.g., Virginia Woolf), but I like stories that actually GO SOMEWHERE. So if you hated "Mrs. Dalloway", you'll hate Independence Day the way I did.
Rating:
Summary: Good writing, but dreary
Review: That pretty much says it all. Pretty much a "guy" book. You also might like it if you are from the New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania highway corridor since there is a lot of "road travel" in the story.
Rating:
Summary: A Great Work of Art
Review: Richard Ford just has a writer's skill for putting exactly what the the human mind is thinking into words. He captivates the reader with his mixture of humor, sadness, and occasionally, sexual themes. He is a truly astounding writer with amazing talent, and I can't wait till his next book comes out. READ THIS, YOU WON'T BE DISAPPOINTED!!!!
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