I found this a disappointing coda to Ford's Sportswriter series of novels about Frank Bascombe. The aimlessness and self-satisfied musings, with their hint of knowing cynicism, seemed light-weight and scattered. The characters were pencil sketches, without depth or colour, including Frank, who if you haven't read the previous novels, will seem irritatingly fragmented and unfounded. And the short-story format is a let down. Ford makes nothing of the form beyond providing a few scenes from what might have been a novel, but for which project he ran out of energy - and perhaps, time. ( )

Tutto potrebbe andare molto peggio. C'è forse da augurarselo, perché Ford qui sembra perdere ispirazione e produce un racconto poco dinamico, composto da quattro quadretti separati - i capitoli del libro - più o meno riusciti ma di certo per nulla coesi. Parziale delusione, anche se per chi ha letto gli altri tre capitoli della saga di Bascombe è irrinunciabile. ( )

If you have read the other three Frank Bascombe books (The Sportswriter, Independence Day and Lay Of The Land) by Richard Ford and enjoyed them, you should read this collection of novellas. If you haven't read those books, don't read this. If you don't know the characters, their histories and past event, I think Let Me Be Frank With You has little to offer.

Frank as we meet him in Let Me Be Frank With You is very similar to the Frank we have met in the past. We get to visit with him for a few days (in the previous novels, critical days). We learn about where he is in his life at that moment. To Frank's credit, he is always trying to figure out who he is, from his perspective and from the perspective of others. To the delight of some readers and the frustration of others, Frank is always lost, contemplative, musing and reflective. He identifies conceptual periods for his life and gives those periods names; the current period is the Default Self.

For me, the first three Frank Bascombe novels were like a wonderful dinner (not the best dinner I ever had, though). The food was definitely to my liking and each course built upon the previous. Let Me Be Frank With You was a glass of after-dinner wine that did not complete the meal but could only be matched with that dinner. While I got some enjoyment from it, I am not so sure that the dinner wasn't better left to its own merits.

A couple of other thoughts. The general structure, the four novellas, didn't make sense to me. I liked how Ford worked the title of the next novella into the novella you were currently reading. He even worked a reference to the first novella into the last one, creating a circular connection. But the novellas fit so well together they felt more like chapters or sections of a novel, other than a few explanations that allowed the novellas to each stand on its own. Why bother? Why not finish tying them together into a more cohesive whole?

My other thought is some GR book club should have a discussion sometime comparing Updike's Rabbit series with Ford's Bascombe series. Or, more likely, it has already happened. There would be a lot to talk about there. ( )

After reading Between Them, I wanted to read something else by Richard Ford, whom critics call one of our national treasures. This collection of 4 intertwining stories was a good one, though I felt like I was jumping in the middle, since Frank Bascombe is an established character in many of Ford's other books. I still got a good taste though and enjoyed it. Frank is a retired real estate agent Democrat with a penchant for quoting literary greats, and philosophizing about life and his (dwindling) place in it. At 68, Frank harbors no illusions about his life's trajectory and his observations are equally funny and paranoid. In these connected stories, it is just post-hurricane Sandy, and Frank's New Jersey location has put him and his 2nd wife Sally in the thick of the storm's aftermath, though they and their home survived in tact. One story deals with a former realty client/friend who lost his seaside second home in the storm. Frank sold it to him. Another story deals with his ex-wife Ann and the onset of her Parkinson's disease. He struggles with what his role to her is now. The last 2 stories are about a dying friend and his own house's past history (tragic). Part wistfulness, part satiric commentary, the characters and situations are relevant and entertaining. Put me in mind of Updike, Irving, and a sprinkle of Garrison Keillor. "Love isn't a thing, after all, but an endless series of single acts." ( )

Fantastic. ( )