I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home

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Lorrie Moores first novel since A Gate at the Stairsa daring, meditative exploration of love and death, passion and grief, and what it means to be haunted by the past, both by history and the human heart.

From one of the most acute and lasting writers of her generation (Caryn James; The New York Times)a ghost story set in the 19th and 21st centuries, an elegiac consideration of grief, devotion (filial and romantic), and the vanishing and persistence of all thingsseen and unseen.

A teacher visiting his dying brother in the Bronx. A mysterious journal from the 19th century stolen from a boarding house. A therapy clown and an assassin, both presumed dead, but perhaps not dead at all . . .

With her distinctive, irresistible wordplay and singular wry humor and wisdom, Lorrie Moore has given us amagic box of longing and surprise as shewrites about love and rebirth and the pull towards life. Bold, meditative, theatrical, this new novel is an inventive, poetic portrait oflovers and siblingsas it questionsthe stories we have been told which may or may not betrue. I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home takes usthrough a trap door, into a windswept, imagined journey to the tragic-comic landscape that is, unmistakably, the world of Lorrie Moore.

Reviews

Moore . . . is an indisputable genius, her sentences routinely sublime . . . [A] triumph. Sally Franson, San Francisco Chronicle

[Moore] once again wields her wordplay playfully and powerfully, striking a balance between levity and gravity. Such a pliant voice is needed to undertake an exploration of the thin veil between life and death, and between tragedy and comedy, and Moore once again succeeds admirably. . . . [I]ts hard to find writers ancient or modern who have used language with a music, wit and tenderness comparable to Moores. Margaret Mitchell, The Spectator

Who else but Lorrie Moore could make, in razor-sharp, irresistible prose, a ghost story about death buoyant with lifePeople

[A] literary gem . . . comic and macabre . . . a meditation on love and death which is by turns whimsical and profound, and reveals tantalisingly the complex histories which have made us who we are. Paul Perry, Sunday Independent (Ireland)

A poignant and thought-provoking novel that lodges like a shard . . . The worlds created by Moore and the wisdom she imparts over the course of her narrative remain in the memory long after reading. The magic is in watching the threads come together, the nimble structuring and authoritative style that permit the reader to imagine the unimaginable . . . an impressive feat of storytelling that leaves us wondering, in the case of death and grief, who ends up more hollowed out, the dead or those they leave behind. Sarah Gilmartin, Irish Times

In I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home Moore brings all her powers of language, comedy, and narrative to bear on the abject chaos of our days. She does not attempt to subdue or redeem the wreck of realitya fools errandbut rather to craft a work of art that is true to the baleful circumstances that made it possible. . . . Justin Taylor, The Sewanee Review

Unexpectedly powerful in its meditations and riffs on love and purgatory as it swerves and skids toward an offbeat finish. Taylor Antrim, Vogue

Weird and wonderful . . . [Moores] talentevident in abundance hereis for using humor and beguilingly odd details to yield grand truths about what it means to be human. The Economist

Lorrie Moore is an all-American genius-eccentric. . . . [O]ne of the most singular and affecting on-the-road stories in the American canon. Maureen Corrigan, Fresh Air (NPR)

[A] wild, haunted-house ride, powered by linguistic panache, descriptive oomph and her trademark wit. Captivating insights into love, loss and letting go add an elegiac note. Hephzibah Anderson, Daily Mail (UK)

There are pleasures here for fans of her wordplay and dark humour . . . Underneath the jokes runs an achingly poignant reckoning with grief.Mia Livithin, The Telegraph

By the end of this wise, tender novel, we can only conclude that everything is pretty damn wonderful, too.Catherine Jarvie, Marie Claire (UK)

Moore is after something more mysterious than naturalism. She is operating in the territory of myth. Moores fever dream of a world [feels] so relentlessly real. David L. Ulin, L.A. Times

Her style is still hers alone . . . this new novel is a reminder to prize every moment we get with her on the page.Luke Brown, Independent (UK)

This is a novel about inexorable loss, about how we cant hold on to anything no matter how hard we try. What a peculiar gift of a novel. This slender ghost story haunts long past the time when the final page is turned. Erica Wagner, The Sunday Times (UK)

Deeply empathetic . . . Moore's latest novel is elegiac and funny, consumed with both the process of dying and the act of remembering.Jackie Thomas-Kennedy, Star Tribune

[Moore] assembles her puns and her false mustaches, readies her troupe, and finds a way to rewrite the most inexorably linear story of all. Moores radiant turbulence will always beckon. You have to stick around for the show. Parul Sehgal, The New Yorker

Charming and sly . . . Fluky, fitfully funny and folk-horror-adjacent . . . Moore stretches for deeper themes in this novel, and of course theyre there: Its a book about loss, and about the patience and endurance it takes to treat the dying with respect, and about the shaggy and multiform varieties of love. Dwight Garner, The New York Times

Thoughtful and witty . . . The authors fans will love it, and those new to Moore will want to see what else theyve been missing. Publishers Weekly

An exquisite exploration of grief, longing, and our relationship with the past . . . mixing comedy with tragedy, and exploring what it means to be alive. Kristyn Kusek Lewis, Real Simple

There is much enjoyment to be had with Moores unique style, particularly the extended, loopy dialogue, replete with wordplay, song lyrics, conspiracy theories, literary and pop culture references. By its end, [the novel] becomes a moving tale of longing, grief, and acceptance. Christine DeZelar-Tiedman, Library Journal

The novel includes historical flashbacks bleak letters to a sister from a Civil Warera woman braced at every turn for disenchantment and reflections on everything from mobile phone obsession to the mentality of a school shooting generation, all in Moores gorgeous prose. And Moores sharp wit underpins everything. I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home explores death, grief and the past in a way that is full of wisdom and empathy. I enjoyed so many moments in this novel . . . As with all the best fiction, Moore offers a way of looking at the world that brings a fresh perspective on something well worn. This is a time trip well worth taking. Martin Chilton, Independent (UK)

Moores sterling literary reputation is anchored most firmly to her short stories, but in her long-awaited fourth novel, her prose is just as breathtakingly crystalline, her humor wily and piquant . . .Moores exhilarating dialogue is acrobatic, her descriptions ravishing . . . A curious spin on Faulkners As I Lay Dying, with frissons of George Saunderss Lincoln in the Bardo (2017), Moores unnerving, gothic, acutely funny, lyrically metaphysical, and bittersweet tale is an audacious, mind-bending plunge into the mysteries of illness, aberration, death, grief, memory, and love. Donna Seaman, Booklist (starred review)

[Moore] manages the impossible in her writing: every other sentence is a gut-punch or the funniest line youve ever read, and it coheres into some of the truest writing about lifefor what is life if not constantly either hilarious or devastating, and often both I Am Homeless If This Is Not My Home is a ghost story, a love story, a family elegy, and a search for answers both tangible and ephemeral: its the world of Lorrie Moore, beckoning us back in. LitHub, Most Anticipated Books of 2023

Moores trademark precision prose works throughout to move the story forward and ensure the reader is both laughing and cryingwarning: this is a deeply emotional read. Yvonne Garrett, The Brooklyn Rail

Moore has long been an expert at mood-setting, and the plot lines develop an uncanny resonance, Moores fear of death, ghost stories and our inability to save people while managing to be, in a very Moore-ian way, weirdly funny. Mark Athitakis, L.A. Times

Moore is revered for her wit, and fans will not be disappointed by the novels dark humor. The prose might be her finest. Claire Messud, Harpers

The writing is just spectacular. And I think Lorrie Moore really is a magician. Front Row, BBC Radio

A wry, shape-shifting meditation on how we might continue to commune with the dead . . . Both playful and poignant, this story of siblings and mental health slips the bonds of time and mortality. It bears Moores s trademark psychological depth and humor. At the sentence level, the work is never less than a revelation. Rebecca Foster, Shelf Awareness

Is it an allegory Is it real It doesnt matter. Exploring sibling love, death, and longing, its a novel with big questions, no answers, and its absolutely brilliant. Emily Firetog, Lit Hub, The 28 Novels You Need to Read This Summer

[A] triumph of tone and, ultimately, of the imagination. Abhrajyoti Chakraborty, The Guardian

Author Bio

LORRIE MOORE is the Gertrude Conaway Vanderbilt Professor of English at Vanderbilt University. She is the recipient of a Lannan Foundation fellowship, as well as the PEN/Malamud Award and the Rea Award for her achievement in the short story. She is a memberof the American Academy of Arts and Letters. She lives in Nashville, Tennessee.