Independence Day is a visionary account of American life and the long-awaited sequel to one of the most celebrated novels of the past decade. This novel reveals a man and our country with unflinching comedy and the specter of hope and permanence. Richard Ford evokes these themes with keen intelligence, perfect emotional pitch, and a voice invested with absolute authority.

Frank Bascombe is no longer a sportswriter, yet he's still living in Haddam, New Jersey, selling real estate. He's still divorced, though his ex-wife has remarried and moved to Connecticut with their children. Frank is happy enough in his work and is pursuing various civic and entrepreneurial sidelines. He has high hopes for this Fourth of July weekend: a search for a house for clients relocating to Vermont, a rendezvous on the Jersey shore with his girlfriend, and a trip to Connecticut to pick up his troubled teenage son for a tour of sports halls of fame.

Frank's Independence Day turns out not as planned, and this decent, bewildered, and profoundly observant man is wrenched out of his private refuge. Independence Day captures the mystery of life in all its conflicted glory with grand humor, intense compassion, and transfixing power.