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Title: an often painfully over-written novel
Review: The portrait of Mr. Bascombe, the sportswriter, and the loss of his child might be easier to empathize with if the author refrained from overwrought lines like, "...feeling abstracted and empty in the lemony vapor of suburban eventide." Who writes like this? High schoolers abusing a page with poetry, in their bedrooms, at 1:00 am, by scented candlelight... and Richard Ford.
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