{"product_id":"9780316215831","title":"The Land of Steady Habits","description":"\u003cb\u003e\"This assured, compassionate first novel channels the  suburban angst of Updike and Cheever...with pitch-perfect prose and  endearingly melancholy characters.\"-\u003ci\u003eBooklist  \u003c\/i\u003e(Starred Review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComing of age can  happen at the strangest times. For Anders Hill, long ensconced in \"the  land of steady habits\"-the affluent, morally strict hamlets of  Connecticut that dot the commuter rail line-it's finally time to reap  the rewards of a sensible life. Into his sixties and newly retired, his  grown sons' college tuitions paid in full, Anders finds the contentment  he's been promised is still just out of reach. So he decides he's had  enough of steady habits: he leaves his wife, buys a condo, and waits for  freedom to transform him.\u003cbr\u003eBut as the cheery charade  of Christmas approaches, Anders starts to wonder if maybe parachuting  from his life was not the most prudent choice. Stripped of the comforts  of his previous identity, Anders turns up at a holiday party full of his  ex-wife's friends and is suprised to find that the very world he  rejected may be one he needs. Thus Anders embarks on a clumsy,  hilarious, and heartbreaking journey to reconcile his past with his  present.\u003cbr\u003eCharting the arc of a forty-year marriage  this finely observed novel about a man deep in conflict with his  community and his past brings into sharp relief the powers of memory,  miscommunication, routine, and disappointment to shape and define a  family's mythology. Reminiscent of the early work of John Updike, Ted  Thompson writes with a striking compassion for his characters and fresh  insight into the American tradition of the suburban narrative.","brand":"Little, Brown and Company","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":47121016488176,"sku":"9780316215831","price":17.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0737\/7593\/9824\/files\/9780316215831_p0.jpg?v=1769889385","url":"https:\/\/shop-qa.barnesandnoble.com\/products\/9780316215831","provider":"Barnes \u0026 Noble (DEV)","version":"1.0","type":"link"}