Man Alive!: A Novel
Owen Lerner, on his annual beach vacation with his wife, twin sons, and teenage daughter, is feeding quarters into a parking meter when he is struck by lightning (“He is white-hot as well as deeply quenched by the singed, syrupy fluid of his surround”). The randomness of the event and the sudden glimpse of mortality throw the Lerner family into a tizzy, and their lovely, sheltered life is suddenly cracked wide open. Will and Ricky, college juniors, are completely waylaid, with Will addicted to pills and casual sex, while Ricky is enmeshed in an unhealthy relationship with his professor and her husband. Meanwhile, younger sister Brooke becomes involved with an abusive boyfriend, and their mother, Toni, feels as if the husband she knows and loves has disappeared, as Owen, once a respected child psychiatrist, becomes obsessed with all things barbecue. Zuravleff (The Bowl Is Already Broken, 2005) is an exuberant writer with a sharp sense of humor, and if Owen’s recovery is a bit too protracted, her satiric jabs (at Whole Foods, among other targets) and joyful wordplay offer plenty to savor. --Joanne Wilkinson