Dec 26, 2009
Independence Day | Independence Day
At a glance:
- Author: Richard Ford
- First Published: 1995
- Type of Plot: Character study
- Time of Work: 1988
- Setting: Haddam, New Jersey
- Principal Characters: Frank Bascombe, Paul Bascombe, Ann Dykstra, Sally Caldwell, Irv Ornstein
- Genres: Long fiction, Character study
- Subjects: Family or family life, Self-discovery, Parents and children, Love or romance, Psychology or psychologists, Fathers, Divorce, Death or dying, Bereavement or grief, Men, Suburban life, Real estate, Middle age
- Locales: Connecticut, New York, New Jersey
The Novel
Independence Day is the first-person narrative of Frank Bascombe, a sportswriter turned
real-estate agent. The novel continues the odyssey of self-discovery on which Frank embarked in
Ford’s 1986 novel, The Sportswriter. Independence Day recounts a
Fourth-of-July weekend in which Frank attempts to juggle work, relationships with family and friends,
and a trip to the Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York, that he hopes will be therapeutic
for his emotionally disturbed teenage son, Paul.
The novel’s events unfold primarily at...
[The entire page is 2367 words long]
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