A Piece of My Heart

By Richard Ford

The “extraordinary” debut novel (Newsweek) from the Pulitzer Prize-winning author of Independence Day tells the story of two godless pilgrims who converge on an uncharted island in the Mississippi. • “One of those books that hit you hard." —Houston Chronicle

Robard Hewes has driven across the country in the service of a destructive passion. Sam Newell is seeking the missing piece of himself. When these men come together, each discovers the thing he's looking for—amid a conflagration of violence that's as shocking as it is inevitable.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Random House Publishing Group
• Release date: Feb 16, 2011
• ISBN: 9780307779298

Richard Ford

Richard Ford is the author of The Sportswriter; Independence Day, winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the PEN/Faulkner Award; The Lay of the Land; and the New York Times bestseller Canada. His short story collections include the bestseller Let Me Be Frank With You, Sorry for Your Trouble, Rock Springs and A Multitude of Sins, which contain many widely anthologized stories. He lives in New Orleans with his wife Kristina Ford.

Reviews for A Piece of My Heart

[lovinglit · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was Ford's first novel. It is fairly amazing.Once I finished the book, I read the back-flap description, and what I read surprised me a little. Yes, I could see how it all fitted together, but I took more "people" and "place" from the novel than I did plot. Even though I wasn't following the plot with bated breath, I was devouring the words and their incredible ability to take me into people's lives. Right into peoples lives.Ford manages this through both dialogue that is subtle yet so revealing, and also though descriptions. Descriptions of peoples expressions, of the landscape, of their thoughts. You get to a point where he describes a characters expression, and you just know what they are thinking. This guy is a genius. And this book was, for me, about enjoying the journey. Which I did.

[sianpr · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Unfortunately none of the characters in this sharply observed novel are at all likeable and the uncritical sexism and racism is hard to take. This is a shame as there is no doubt that Ford is a good story teller.

[ireadthereforeiam · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was Ford's first novel. It is fairly amazing.Once I finished the book, I read the back-flap description, and what I read surprised me a little. Yes, I could see how it all fitted together, but I took more "people" and "place" from the novel than I did plot. Even though I wasn't following the plot with bated breath, I was devouring the words and their incredible ability to take me into people's lives. Right into peoples lives.Ford manages this through both dialogue that is subtle yet so revealing, and also though descriptions. Descriptions of peoples expressions, of the landscape, of their thoughts. You get to a point where he describes a characters expression, and you just know what they are thinking. This guy is a genius. And this book was, for me, about enjoying the journey. Which I did.