One of the great bestseller of our time: the novel that inspired Robert Redford’s Oscar-winning film starring Donald Sutherland and Mary Tyler Moore
InOrdinary People, Judith Guest’s remarkable first novel, the Jarrets are a typical American family. Calvin is a determined, successful provider and Beth an organized, efficient wife. They had two sons, Conrad and Buck, but now they have one. In this memorable, moving novel, Judith Guest takes the reader into their lives to share their misunderstandings, pain, and ultimate healing.Ordinary Peopleis an extraordinary novel about an ordinary family divided by pain, yet bound by their struggle to heal.
Admirable...touching...full of the anxiety, despair, and joy that is common to every human experience of suffering and growth. -The New York Times
Rejoice! A novel for all ages and all seasons. -The Washington Post Book World
Judith Guest won the Janet Heidegger Kafka Prize for her first novel,
Ordinary People, which was made into the Academy Award-winning 1980 film of the same name. Her other novels are
Second Heaven, Killing Time in St. Cloud(with Rebecca Hill), and
Errands. She lives with her family in Minneapolis, Minnesota, and Harrisville, Michigan.
1To have a reason to get up in the morning, it is necessary to possess a guiding principle. A belief of some kind. A bumper sticker, if you will. People in cars on busy freeways call to each other Boycott Grapes, comfort each other Honk if You Love Jesus, joke with each other Be Kind to Animals—Kiss a Beaver. They identify, they summarize, they antagonize with statements of faith: I Have a Dream, Too—Law and Order; Jesus Saves at Chicago Fed; Rod McKuen for President.
Lying on his back in bed, he gazes around the walls of l$
![Ordinary People A Novel [Paperback]](/itemImage/2/2/6/5/2_135829.jpg "Ordinary People A Novel [Paperback] xxx")