Meghan Daum's unforgettable debut novel brings her sharp wit and courageous social commentary to the story of Lucinda Trout, a New York television reporter in search of greener pastures. Moving to the slower-paced, friendly, and vastly more affordable Midwestern town of Prairie City, Lucinda zealously creates a series of televised reports for her New York audience about her newfound quality of life. But when Lucinda falls for eccentric local Mason Clay, her naivete about the real world leads her down an unexpected path, where she encounters, among other things, a drafty old farmhouse filled with children, an ever-growing menagerie of farm animals, and the harshest winter the region has seen in twenty years. In other words, simplicity just isn't as simple as it is cracked up to be, and "quality of life," Lucinda learns, is much more complicated than she ever imagined.

About the Author

Meghan Daum is an opinion columnist covering cultural and political topics for the Los Angeles Times, who also writes the Egos column for the New York Times Book Review. She is the author of three other books: The Unspeakable and Other Subjects of Discussion, which won the 2015 PEN Center USA Award for creative nonfiction; My Misspent Youth: Essays; and Life Would Be Perfect If I Lived in That House. She also edited the New York Times best-seller Selfish, Shallow, and Self-Absorbed: Sixteen Writers on the Decision Not to Have Kids.

Reviews
Daum's enormous comic gift-and her ability to use it in the service of fundamentally serious issues-is an unexpected delight. * New York Times Book Review *
A crisp, wisecracking voice . . . an admirably nuanced view of the American heartland. * New Yorker *
Funny, literate . . . this is a surprising, entertaining, and often touching story of a single woman lurching into her thirties looking for love and fulfillment, but mostly just finding herself. Top quality. * People *
Daum has a charming, breezy style and a pretty wicked sense of humor. . . . The Quality of Life Report is great fun. * USA Today *
The simple life never looked so complicated. * Time *



Book Information
ISBN 9781477313008
Author Meghan Daum
Format Paperback
Page Count 320
Imprint University of Texas Press
Publisher University of Texas Press
Weight(grams) 454g
Dimensions(mm) 216mm * 140mm * 23mm