A member of the greatest generation looks back on the loves and losses
of his past and comes to treasure the present anew in this poignant and
thoughtful new novel from a modern master
Stewart O'Nan is renowned for illuminating the unexpected grace of
everyday life and the resilience of ordinary people with humor,
intelligence, and compassion. In Henry, Himself, he offers an
unsentimental, moving life story of a twentieth-century everyman.
Soldier, son, lover, husband, breadwinner, churchgoer, Henry Maxwell has
spent his whole life trying to live with honor. A native Pittsburgher
and engineer, he's always believed in logic, sacrifice, and hard work.
Now, seventy-five and retired, he feels the world has passed him by.
It's 1998, the American century is ending, and nothing is simple
anymore. His children are distant, their unhappiness a mystery. Only his
wife Emily and dog Rufus stand by him. Once so confident, as Henry's
strength and memory desert him, he weighs his dreams against his regrets
and is left with questions he can't answer: Is he a good man? Has he
done right by the people he loves? And with time running out, what,
realistically, can he hope for?
Like Emily, Alone, which The New York Times called O'Nan's best
novel yet, Henry, Himself is a wry, warmhearted portrait of an
American original who believes he's reached a dead end only to discover
life is full of surprises.
