Hard Laughter: A Novel

Anne Lamotts poignant first novel Hard Laughter 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 Lamotts unexpectedly sweet and funny first novel which is made dramatic not so much by Wallaces 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.