“Early Warning” by Jane Smiley

This second installment in Jane Smiley’s best-selling trilogy follows the Langdon family as they navigate the political and physical landscapes of midcentury America, bringing to the surface the challenges and rewards of family even in the most turbulent of times. Check out our Summer 2015 pick for the LARB Book Club: “Early Warning” by Jane Smiley.

May 11, 2015

Early Warning was the summer 2015 LARB Book Club pick. To join the Book Club, where we put you in conversation with editors and members and send a copy of the selected title to your door, become a LARB Friend member today

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From the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of A Thousand Acres comes the “wondrous…mesmerizing” second installment (The Washington Post), following Some Luck, of her widely acclaimed, bestselling American trilogy, which brings the journey of a remarkable family with roots in the Iowa heartland into mid-century America.

Frank did not haunt Front Street and Maiden Lane; he circled it, wending here and there, his eye always peeled. It’s 1953, and the Langdons are at a crossroads. Walter, their stalwart patriarch, has died unexpectedly, and his wife must try to keep their farm going. But of their five children, only one will remain to work the land. The others scatter to Washington, DC, California, and everywhere in between. As the country moves into the Cold War, through the social revolutions of the ’60s and ’70s, and into the unprecedented wealth — for some — of the early ’80s, the Langdon children have children of their own: twin boys who are best friends and vicious rivals; a girl whose rebellious spirit takes her to the notorious Peoples Temple in San Francisco; and a golden boy who drops out of college to fight in Vietnam — leaving behind a secret legacy.

Capturing a transformative period through characters we come to know and love, this second volume in Jane Smiley’s epic trilogy brings to life the challenges — and rewards — of family and home, even in the most turbulent of times.

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JANE SMILEY is the author of numerous novels, including A Thousand Acres, which was awarded the Pulitzer Prize, and the Last Hundred Years Trilogy: Some Luck, Early Warning, and Golden Age. She is the author as well of several works of nonfiction and books for young adults. A member of the American Academy of Arts and Letters, she has also received the PEN Center USA Lifetime Achievement Award for Literature. She lives in Northern California.

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