Independence Day

New York: Little Brown Canada. Very Good-. 1995. Uncorrected Proof. Paperback. 0316288268 . Light edge wear, light curling of corners, crease top back corner, light shelf soil ; A tight solid book. Scan available upon request. Plain white card covers with black print. This was the first issue of the book, intended to be distributed to book reviewers and book sellers only ; Trade PB; Large 8vo 9" - 10" tall; 451 pages; Richard Ford has created in Frank Bascome the most interesting, insightful & thought provoking character in American literature since Holden Caufield. Over the course of a Fourth of July weekend, Mr. Ford takes us on a journey that moves from the current day to flashbacks in the life of Frank Bascome. He is a real estate agent in a southern New Jersey town and one of his current clients is a couple who are looking for the ideal home. When Frank thinks he has found the right home, they have reservations. Frank never seems to be able to meet the couple's pie-in-the-sky expectations and that is central theme to the book. No matter how hard we try, we never seem to meet of own expectations in life. Frank has had a failed marriage, a failed career as a sportswriter and has entered what he calls an "existance period" in his life. He yearns for the days gone by when as he says "pride still mattered". .