The Land of Steady Habits, Ted Thompson
The Land of Steady Habits, Ted Thompson
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The Land of Steady Habits

Author: Ted Thompson

Narrator: Joe Barrett

Unabridged: 7 hr 24 min

Format: Digital Audiobook Download

Published: 03/25/2014

Synopsis

Anders Hill - nearing his early 60s and seemingly ensconced in the 'land of steady habits,' a nickname for the affluent, morally strict hamlets of Connecticut that dot the commuter rail line - abandons his career and family for a new condo, and a new life. Stripped of the comforts of his previous identity, he turns up at a holiday party full of his ex-wife's friends and is surprised 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. Like the early work of John Updike, Ted Thompson's debut finely observes a man deep in conflict with his community.

About Ted Thompson

Ted Thompson is a recent graduate of the Iowa Writers' Workshop, where he was awarded a Truman Capote Fellowship. His work has appeared in Tin House and Best New American Voices, among other places. He was born in Connecticut and now lives in Brooklyn.

About Joe Barrett

Joe Barrett is an Audie and Earphones award-winning narrator who has recorded over two hundred titles. He began his acting career at the age of five in the basement of his family's home in upstate New York and has gone on to play numerous roles on television, film, and stage, including on Broadway, Off-Broadway, and regionally. He has also appeared in hundreds of television and radio commercials. He is married to actor Andrea Wright, with whom he has four very grown children.

Reviews

Goodreads review by Barbara (NOT RECEIVING NOTIFICATIONS!)

4.5 stars: The Land of Steady Habits is a hilarious look at male late-middle-age crisis. Ted Thompson is being touted as “the new and improved” John Updike, with which I concur. The cantankerous main character, Anders Hill, has reached his 60’s and no longer wants to tolerate, what he views as, his......more

Goodreads review by switterbug (Betsey)

The negating emptiness of a man’s late middle age is examined alongside of the encroaching isolation of America’s late-stage capitalism. Ted Thompson’s debut novel is reminiscent of Cheever and Updike, rightly so, and his narrative, to me, was warmer and less self-conscious than Updike. Most of the......more

Goodreads review by Carol

Exact transparent prose creates a voice that pulled me in from the first page. The main character, Anders Hill, is a newly retired sixty-something year old man. In spite of living a responsible life of "steady habits," providing for his family and building a successful career, he finds himself unful......more

Goodreads review by Brooke

I have grown so tired of books about ne'er-do-well men and the wives and mothers who love them anyway. Not a likable character in the book!......more

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