BRAND NEW HUMAN BEING
Logan Pyle, a lapsed grad student and stay-at-home dad, is just barely holding it together: His father has died, his wife Julie is distant, and his four-year-old son has gone back to drinking from a baby bottle. One Sunday morning at a children’s birthday party, he finds Julie kissing another man, and something snaps. Logan packs a bag, buckles his son into his car seat, and heads north with a 1920s Louisville Slugger in the back of his truck, a maxed-out American Express card in his wallet, and revenge in his heart. After some bad decisions and worse luck, he lands at his father’s old A-frame cabin,
Logan Pyle, a lapsed grad student and stay-at-home dad, is just barely holding it together: His father has died, his wife Julie is distant, and his four-year-old son has gone back to drinking from a baby bottle. One Sunday morning at a children’s birthday party, he finds Julie kissing another man, and something snaps. Logan packs a bag, buckles his son into his car seat, and heads north with a 1920s Louisville Slugger in the back of his truck, a maxed-out American Express card in his wallet, and revenge in his heart. After some bad decisions and worse luck, he lands at his father’s old A-frame cabin, where his father’s young widow, Bennie, now lives. She has every reason to turn Logan away, but when she doesn’t, she opens the door to unexpected redemption—for both of them.
A deftly plotted exploration of marriage, family, and the ties that bind, Brand New Human Being is a winning debut that overflows with heart, humanity, humor, and grace.
- Houghton Mifflin Harcourt
- Hardcover
- June 2012
- 272 Pages
- 9780547734361
Buy the Book
$25.00
About Emily Jeanne Miller
Emily Jeanne Miller worked as a journalist for several western newspapers before earning an MS from the Environmental Studies Program at the University of Montana and an MFA from the University of Florida in Gainesville. Her short stories have appeared in The Portland Review and the North American Review, and she has been a resident at Yaddo and at the Vermont Studio Center. She lives in Washington, D.C.
Praise
“A whip-smart first novel that gripped me with its wry humor and wonderfully real characters, and kept me captivated through the last page. This is a fast-paced, first-rate book by an immensely talented new writer.”—Curtis Sittenfeld