Among the Ten Thousand Things: A Novel
Jul 2015 · Sold by Random House
2.8star
9 reviews
Ebook
352
Pages
family_home
Eligible
info
About this ebook
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE AND THE HUFFINGTON POST • Features an exclusive conversation between Julia Pierpont and Lena Dunham
For fans of Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Lorrie Moore, and Curtis Sittenfeld, Among the Ten Thousand Things is a dazzling first novel, a portrait of an American family on the cusp of irrevocable change, and a startlingly original story of love and time lost.
Jack Shanley is a well-known New York artist, charming and vain, who doesn’t mean to plunge his family into crisis. His wife, Deb, gladly left behind a difficult career as a dancer to raise the two children she adores. In the ensuing years, she has mostly avoided coming face-to-face with the weaknesses of the man she married. But then an anonymously sent package arrives in the mail: a cardboard box containing sheaves of printed emails chronicling Jack’s secret life. The package is addressed to Deb, but it’s delivered into the wrong hands: her children’s.
With this vertiginous opening begins a debut that is by turns funny, wise, and indescribably moving. As the Shanleys spin apart into separate orbits, leaving New York in an attempt to regain their bearings, fifteen-year-old Simon feels the allure of adult freedoms for the first time, while eleven-year-old Kay wanders precariously into a grown-up world she can’t possibly understand. Writing with extraordinary precision, humor, and beauty, Julia Pierpont has crafted a timeless, hugely enjoyable novel about the bonds of family life—their brittleness, and their resilience.
Praise for Among the Ten Thousand Things
“A luscious, smart summer novel . . . by a blazingly talented young author.”—The New York Times Book Review
“This book is one of the funniest, and most emotionally honest, I’ve read in a long time.”—Jonathan Safran Foer
“Obsessively compelling . . . emotionally sophisticated . . . Among the Ten Thousand Things rises above [other novels] for its imagined structure, sentence-by-sentence punch, and pure humanity.”—Vanity Fair
“Gripping . . . Pierpont brings this family of four to life in sharply observed detail. . . . An acute observer of social comedy, Ms. Pierpont has a keen eye for the absurd.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Pierpont’s language is heart-stopping. . . . Between Pierpont’s literary finesse and her captivating characters, [Among the Ten Thousand Things] reads like a page-turner.”—Entertainment Weekly (grade: A)
“A twisty, gripping story—that packs an emotional wallop.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“There are going to be as many ingenious twists and turns in this literary novel as there are in a top-notch work of suspense like Gone Girl.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air
“Tender, delicately perceptive . . . Pierpont’s voice is wry and confident, and she is a fine anthropologist of New York life.”—The Washington Post
“Pierpont displays a precocious gift for language and observation. . . . She captures the minutiae of loneliness that pushes us away from each other and sometimes brings us back.”—San Francisco Chronicle
For fans of Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen, Lorrie Moore, and Curtis Sittenfeld, Among the Ten Thousand Things is a dazzling first novel, a portrait of an American family on the cusp of irrevocable change, and a startlingly original story of love and time lost.
Jack Shanley is a well-known New York artist, charming and vain, who doesn’t mean to plunge his family into crisis. His wife, Deb, gladly left behind a difficult career as a dancer to raise the two children she adores. In the ensuing years, she has mostly avoided coming face-to-face with the weaknesses of the man she married. But then an anonymously sent package arrives in the mail: a cardboard box containing sheaves of printed emails chronicling Jack’s secret life. The package is addressed to Deb, but it’s delivered into the wrong hands: her children’s.
With this vertiginous opening begins a debut that is by turns funny, wise, and indescribably moving. As the Shanleys spin apart into separate orbits, leaving New York in an attempt to regain their bearings, fifteen-year-old Simon feels the allure of adult freedoms for the first time, while eleven-year-old Kay wanders precariously into a grown-up world she can’t possibly understand. Writing with extraordinary precision, humor, and beauty, Julia Pierpont has crafted a timeless, hugely enjoyable novel about the bonds of family life—their brittleness, and their resilience.
Praise for Among the Ten Thousand Things
“A luscious, smart summer novel . . . by a blazingly talented young author.”—The New York Times Book Review
“This book is one of the funniest, and most emotionally honest, I’ve read in a long time.”—Jonathan Safran Foer
“Obsessively compelling . . . emotionally sophisticated . . . Among the Ten Thousand Things rises above [other novels] for its imagined structure, sentence-by-sentence punch, and pure humanity.”—Vanity Fair
“Gripping . . . Pierpont brings this family of four to life in sharply observed detail. . . . An acute observer of social comedy, Ms. Pierpont has a keen eye for the absurd.”—The Wall Street Journal
“Pierpont’s language is heart-stopping. . . . Between Pierpont’s literary finesse and her captivating characters, [Among the Ten Thousand Things] reads like a page-turner.”—Entertainment Weekly (grade: A)
“A twisty, gripping story—that packs an emotional wallop.”—O: The Oprah Magazine
“There are going to be as many ingenious twists and turns in this literary novel as there are in a top-notch work of suspense like Gone Girl.”—Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air
“Tender, delicately perceptive . . . Pierpont’s voice is wry and confident, and she is a fine anthropologist of New York life.”—The Washington Post
“Pierpont displays a precocious gift for language and observation. . . . She captures the minutiae of loneliness that pushes us away from each other and sometimes brings us back.”—San Francisco Chronicle
Ratings and reviews
2.8
9 reviews
Kristina Anderson
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July 12, 2015
Among the Ten Thousand Things by Julia Pierpont was a long and excruciating novel to read! Jack Shanley is an artist (installation artist) who is married to Deborah. They have two children named Simon (a moody teenager) and Kay who is eleven. Kay comes home one day and the doorman gives her a package for her mother. The package is not sealed. Kay opens it up and reads the enclosed letter. The letter is from Jack’s mistress, Jordan Esberg. Along with a letter are printouts of every text or chat they ever had (and they are quite explicit). Kay reads the letter and some of the printouts. She does not know what to do with the box. Kay ends up showing it to her brother, Simon who immediately calls in their mother. Turns out that Deborah knew about the affair since Christmas. Jack was supposed to call it off (which he eventually did), but he turned Jordan into a bitter and vengeful woman. Deborah cannot believe that her children now know about the affair (the latest one). The children are angry and do not want to see or talk to their father. The father is a little bit ashamed (that his kids know about it), but he expects Deborah to make everything better. Jack thinks it will be a rough few days (maybe a week) and then life will return to normal. Jack throws himself into his latest project. He installs a concrete house with furniture, windows, etc. and then lets off explosives. It is called BAYT (which means house). It could be a house in any country. Unfortunately, Jack did not make sure all the explosives were discharged. On the night of the opening there is a kaboom! That is the end of that display and Jack’s career for a while. Deborah takes the kids to their ramshackle cottage in Rhode Island for two weeks so they can get away. Among the Ten Thousand Things is what happens to a family after the affair is exposed. It is written as if someone set down and typed out their story (just rambles on) and it was published without any editing. I found the story boring, bland, and dismal. I really had to work hard to get through this novel. The book abruptly switches between people and scenes (so abrupt that it leaves the reader confused at first). The description really sounded good too (of course, that is the goal of descriptions). The book is also written in an unusual order. You find out what happens to everyone in the middle of the book. Then story goes back and tells about the two weeks at the cottage in Rhode Island (like putting the cart before the horse). The ending felt very incomplete (but I was just so happy that I had finished it). I give Among the Ten Thousand Things just 1 out of 5 stars. This book was definitely not for me. I received a complimentary copy of Among the Ten Thousand Things from NetGalley and First to Read in exchange for an honest review. The review and opinions expressed are my own.
About the author
Julia Pierpont is a graduate of the NYU Creative Writing Program, where she received the Rona Jaffe Foundation Graduate Fellowship, as well as the Stein Fellowship. She lives in New York City.
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