Just the Way You Want Me

Nora Eisenberg burst on the literary scene with her stunning debut novel, The War at Home (A Washington Post Book World Book Rave of 2002) a masterful recreation of family life in the 1950's and one of the most vivid, poignant?and humorous?views of the left wing political family in recent American literature. Now she returns with a gripping new novel about a daughter's search for the truth about her father. Betsy Vogel is turning forty. With a trail of failed relationships behind her and a loving man very much in her future, Betsy is simply unable to commit. Sexually pliant, generous to a fault, Betsy puts her own best interests last. When, on the eve of a fresh start, she discovers that her father, a charismatic ex-convict in and out of prison for labor organizing, is not buried in the family plot, indeed may not be dead at all, she's compelled to begin a cross-country journey that leads her to discoveries about her father, herself, and the dark political history of our nation. At the heart of this tragicomic novel matters of love, loyalty, and the true nature of patriotism burn with rare intensity. With a warm, energetic voice, tender and hilarious characterizations of the eccentric Vogel clan, a cross-country bus trip ranging from the condos of Miami to the Santa Monica Pier, Just the Way You Want Me explores the cultural legacies of deeply committed political families and the life-long struggles of their children to measure up to their parents' idealistic dreams.