{"product_id":"the-oyster-diaries-by-nancy-lemann","title":"The Oyster Diaries by Nancy Lemann","description":"\u003cp\u003eFrom \u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNew York Review Books:\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tad-over-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv id=\"title-detail-tab-line\" class=\"ui container tm-max-width\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tad-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"tad-about-container\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"mb-4\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eFrom the author of the cult classic\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eLives of the Saints\u003c\/i\u003e, a diaristic novel of middle-aged reckoning that roves from Washington, D.C. to New Orleans, from court records to\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eDon Giovanni\u003c\/i\u003e, all of it riotously narrated by one of American fiction’s most singular voices.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003eDelery Anhalt—middle-aged and prone, like Don Quixote, to “embroidering everything into vast ideals” but incapable (like Desdemona?) of identifying the Shakespearean villains in her life—finds herself. Her father and his peers, the old guard of New Orleans, are entering their twilight years. Her daughters are stepping decisively into adulthood. Delery, caught between the demands of the generations, takes stock of herself in a series of diaries that move freely between present and past: from the waning days of Covid and her employment as a virtual court monitor of criminal cases in New Orleans to the travails of daily life in Washington, DC. Throughout, she revisits—with frankness, with fury, with not a few qualms and some further thoughts—what she calls her lions at the gate: her insecurity, ego, annoyance, operativ wrath (felt most keenly toward bad houseguests), and remorse.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Oyster Diaries\u003c\/i\u003e, the latest novel by the incomparable Nancy Lemann, is a funny and poignant portrayal of the vicissitudes of adulthood that sees the return, from her legendary debut,\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003ci\u003eLives of the Saints\u003c\/i\u003e, of the heroic wastrel Claude Collier. This is an exuberant, indignant, insightful performance, and an irresistible addition to the books that have made Lemann one of the keenest, most egaging, and simply beloved of American writers at work today.\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"w-100 bg-white\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"w-100 bg-white\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"ui container border-top-gray-300 position-relative\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"pt-1 d-flex justify-content-space-between pb-5\"\u003e\n\u003cdiv class=\"fs-18px lh-26 fort-bold\"\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003c\/div\u003e","brand":"Dotters Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":52185913884965,"sku":"9798896230328","price":17.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/2167\/5269\/files\/9798896230328.jpg?v=1775326966","url":"https:\/\/dottersbooks.com\/products\/the-oyster-diaries-by-nancy-lemann","provider":"Dotters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}