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Fritz Agency
Christian Dittus |
| Original language | |
| English | |
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NO RELATION
Hem is having a very bad day. Within 24 hours, he loses his wallet, his job, and his live-in girlfriend. He also loses his sanity (almost) when he tries to establish his identity for a new driver's license at the DMV.
As his psychiatrist notes, the 40 year-old ad agency copywriter has a fat severance check, a wonderful Manhattan apartment, and time to write the novel burning inside him, if he can overcome his writer's block.
But Hem carries the burdens of his birth. His father, CEO of The Hemmingwear Company, insists that his son honor tradition and return to Chicago to take over the celebrated family underwear empire. For three generations, every first-born son embraced this family duty but Hem has other dreams.
Like his father and grandfather, Hem is named for the founding patriarch of Hemmingwear, saddling him his official name: Earnest Hemmingway, spelled with an extra a and m. It is especially onerous for a man who aspires to write a great novel.
As Hem deals with his new situation, Terry Fallis's extraordinary gifts are on display: a lovable hero and a fast-paced plot where Hem allies with his sister to expose traitors in the company and to secure the CEO post for her. And there are looping comic scenes involving Hem's support group for those burdened by famous namesscenes that flirt with farce and then are deftly reined in, leaving the echo of laughter. There is also the serious heart of the novel, which is Hem's confrontation with his father, and the weight of paternal expectations.
Terry Fallis is the author of three previous novels.
As his psychiatrist notes, the 40 year-old ad agency copywriter has a fat severance check, a wonderful Manhattan apartment, and time to write the novel burning inside him, if he can overcome his writer's block.
But Hem carries the burdens of his birth. His father, CEO of The Hemmingwear Company, insists that his son honor tradition and return to Chicago to take over the celebrated family underwear empire. For three generations, every first-born son embraced this family duty but Hem has other dreams.
Like his father and grandfather, Hem is named for the founding patriarch of Hemmingwear, saddling him his official name: Earnest Hemmingway, spelled with an extra a and m. It is especially onerous for a man who aspires to write a great novel.
As Hem deals with his new situation, Terry Fallis's extraordinary gifts are on display: a lovable hero and a fast-paced plot where Hem allies with his sister to expose traitors in the company and to secure the CEO post for her. And there are looping comic scenes involving Hem's support group for those burdened by famous namesscenes that flirt with farce and then are deftly reined in, leaving the echo of laughter. There is also the serious heart of the novel, which is Hem's confrontation with his father, and the weight of paternal expectations.
Terry Fallis is the author of three previous novels.
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Book
Published 2014-05-01 by McClelland & Stewart |