Everyday People

He is a writer who reaches out, both making and bridging worlds. . . . The novel is like a neighbourhood, with chapters about various characters set side by side like so many doors on the same street. * New York Times Book Review *
A sad and haunting novel . . . The struggles of the Tolbert family, with love and obligation, with hope and the end of hope, give shape to a plot that does not wholly unspool until the last sentence-about the most dramatic and poignant I have ever read. * Atlantic Monthly *
With wit, tenderness, and empathy Stewart O'Nan renders a detailed portrait of life that's more than just a description of hard knocks against the backdrop of urban blight. . . A unique and tantalising novel that celebrates the lives of everyday people in an extraordinary way. * San Francisco Chronicle *
Reading this novel will reward you with a profound, sobering realisation of the differences that exist between us while insisting nonetheless that we share a profound sameness. O'Nan accomplishes a rare thing, for he has us mourn a common loss. . . .Everyday People aims at restoring to the sufferer and the victim . . . their full and due humanity. . . . It is not a thing easily done. But Stewart O'Nan has pulled it off in beautiful, heartbreaking, haunting fashion. * Chicago Tribune *