Overview

Nancy Bachrach is living in Paris, selling deodorant to the French, when a freak accident kills her father aboard his cabin cruiser, the aptly dubbed Mr. Fix It, in her incongruously named hometown of Providence. Her mother, Lola, the self-proclaimed center of the universe, whose medical history reads like the chapter headings of a psychiatric manual, lies in a coma on death's waiting list. Nancy rushes home and sits by her mother's ventilator--thinking about Sunny von Bulow and eyeing the plug. Thus begins a family reunion with her brother, Ben (a piano prodigy and eventual surgeon who was born with three thumbs), and sister, Helen (the wild child, now an abnormal psychologist ).
This is a dark, hilarious tale of genius, madness, ineptitude, collateral damage, and hope--with an ending that's improbable, as only the truth can be. Aching and tender, unflinching and wry, The Center of the Universe is a multi generational mother-daughter story--a splendid, funny, lyrical book about family, truth, memory, and the resilience of love.

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9780307270900

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Reviews

Praise for Nancy Bachrach's The Center of the Universe <br> A sophisticated, funny debut. . . . With smart, subtle prose, Bachrach limns a journey toward love that feels fresh, organic and as unpredictable as life itself. <br>-- Kirkus Reviews <br> Piquant and ribald . . . Bachrach's prose is wry, risky, and feels like she has found her moment at last. <br>-- Publishers Weekly<br> <br> [ The Center of the Universe ] has a freshness and loopy humor . . . infused with humanizing pathos, and readers may well tear through this compelling read in a single sitting. <br>-- Booklist<br> <br> Bachrach is one of the funniest writers I've ever read, period. Make room on the shelf next to Sedaris, Eggers, Wilsey. Our new bad boy of memoir is here and she's middle-aged, mildly manic and my god, we've been waiting a long time for her. <br>--Alexandra Fuller, author of Don't Let's Go to the Dogs Tonight <br> Of the many ways to deal with a father's sudden death and a mother's injury and

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