Is there a more meticulously defined character in modern fiction than Frank Bascombe? He is now in his mid-50's, selling real estate on the Jersey Shore and dealing with prostate cancer. By his own definition, he has entered the Permanent Period, when life is how it will be until the end. But more life happens to Frank in the three days of this novel (around Thanksgiving of 2000) than most people experience in a year. I loved every word on every page of this grand, beautiful and funny novel by one of the best American writers of our time.

NATIONAL BESTSELLER
National Book Critics Circle Award Finalist
A New York Times Best Book of the Year

A sportswriter and a real estate agent, husband and father –Frank Bascombe has been many things to many people. His uncertain youth behind him, we follow him through three days during the autumn of 2000, when his trade as a realtor on the Jersey Shore is thriving. But as a presidential election hangs in the balance, and a postnuclear-family Thanksgiving looms before him, Frank discovers that what he terms “the Permanent Period” is fraught with unforeseen perils. An astonishing meditation on America today and filled with brilliant insights, The Lay of the Land is a magnificent achievement from one of the most celebrated chroniclers of our time.

“Ford once again shows why he deserves to be hailed as one of the great American fiction novelists of his generation.”
—The Washington Post Book World

“By now, we have gotten to know Frank Bascombe well enough to take his measure, and to appreciate that, like almost no one else in our recent literature, he is life-size.”
—The New York Times Book Review

"The Lay of the Land . . . is distinct not only for its singular style but also because of its generosity. Ford shows that life is never easy and never placid. . . . Yet we keep moving forward for that occasional moment of pure understanding."
—Chicago Sun-Times

The author of five earlier novels and three collections of stories, Richard Ford was awarded the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award for Independence Day, the first book to win both prizes. In 2001 he received the PEN/Malamud Award for excellence in short fiction.