Be Mine

A Frank Bascombe Novel

By: Richard Ford

Narrated by: Richard Poe

From Pulitzer Prize winner Richard Ford: the final novel in the world of Frank Bascombe, one of the most indelible characters in American literature

Over the course of four celebrated works of fiction and almost forty years, Richard Ford has crafted an ambitious, incisive, and singular view of American life as lived. Unconstrained, astute, provocative, often laugh-out-loud funny, Frank Bascombe is once more our guide to the great American midway.

Now in the twilight of life, a man who has occupied many colorful lives—sportswriter, father, husband, ex-husband, friend, real estate agent—Bascombe finds himself in the most sorrowing role of all: caregiver to his son, Paul, diagnosed with ALS. On a shared winter odyssey to Mount Rushmore, Frank, in typical Bascombe fashion, faces down the mortality that is assured each of us, and in doing so confronts what happiness might signify at the end of days.

In this memorable novel, Richard Ford puts on displays the prose, wit, and intelligence that make him one of our most acclaimed living writers. Be Mine is a profound, funny, poignant love letter to our beleaguered world.

5-Star Ford - again… and as always

Frank Bascombe feels as relatable as ever - even if, as I myself keep aging, I never quite reach Frank’s age. (I know that makes mathematical sense.) The arc is rich and heartbreaking and humorous, the language bright and spare and telling… It’s a fabulous culmination for Frank and his thoughts and his people. Highly recommend, once again.

A masterpiece

How many times do I find myself listening to his profound insights? So many pages are worth reading again. This has been a wonderful reminder of what it’s like to read Richard Ford

Father’s honesty & desire to help his son; son’s brittle, sardonic & determined courage

Good book. Not romanticized, but not all bleak either. A sometimes too long meander on life & death by father truing to inject some distracting happiness into his son’s last months.

Contemplative novel

Humor threaded through difficult subject matter. The conversation between these two characters were believable and poignant.

Come, read and enjoy the Journey with Ford.

Richard Ford answers his Son’s question of what Good is by stating that his belief is that the Good is in the details and he demonstrates that faith by providing us with all the details.

Ford’s Gift is that he lets us see his World through all the minutia his Life can hold. In Be Mine he invites us along on a Cross-Country Road Trip with his Dying Son. The Sites, Sounds, and People that they meet come alive through the hundreds of little moments the Road contains and The Simple Reality of The Land and the Humanity of these everyday Americans that shine through his perfect prose.

It was a very easy and enjoyable Read, leaving me feeling quite good about the simple realities of Living. Four Stars. ****