Jamesland

by Michelle Huneven

Jamesland , the buoyant second novel by Michelle Huneven, critically acclaimed author of Round Rock , is a witty, sophisticated, and deeply humane comedy of unlikely redemption.

When thirty-three-year-old Alice Black discovers a deer in her dining room after fighting with her boyfriend, she wonders if she’s going crazy. Pete Ross, forty-six, knows he’s crazy. He’s wrecked his marriage, slashed his wrists, and done time in a psychiatric institution, and now he's being cared for by his mother, who’s a nun. Forty-five-year-old Helen Harland, a spirited Unitarian Universalist minister, is being driven crazy by her hostile church administration. Living in Los Feliz, California, the three meet at Helen’s Wednesday midweek services. Though initially incompatible, the sheer force of Helen’s idiosyncratic ministering (her “variety show of religious experience”)–paired with Alice’s illustrious ancestor William James–proves to be a catalyst for friendship and a kind of transcendence. Generous and compassionate, Michelle Huneven delivers a joyful new novel about love, faith, and a few wayward souls waiting for life to begin.

Genres: Fiction, Contemporary, Religion, Literature, Novels

384 pages, Paperback

First published September 9, 2003

About the author

I am the author of four novels.

I was born in Altadena, California just a mile from where I live now. I college-hopped (Scripps, Grinnell, EWU) and landed at the Iowa Writer¹s Workshop where I received my MFA.

My first two books, Round Rock (Knopf 1997) and Jamesland (Knopf 2003), were both New York Times notable books and also finalists for the LA Times Book Award. My third novel, Blame, (Sarah Crichton Books, FSG, 2009), was a finalist for the National Book Critics Circle Award and also a finalist for the LA Times Book Award. My fourth novel, Off Course, (Sarah Crichton Books, FSG, 2014), is coming out April 1, 2014.
Along the way, I’ve received a GE Younger Writers Award and a Whiting Award for Fiction. For many years my “day job” was reviewing restaurants and writing about food for the Los Angeles Times, the LA Weekly and other publications. I’ve received a James Beard award (for “feature writing with recipes”) and an assortment of other awards for food journalism.

I’m presently teaching creative writing to undergraduates at UCLA and writing the occasional bit about food. I live with my husband Jim Potter, dog (Piper), cat (Mr. Pancks), and talkative African Grey parrot (Helen) in Altadena.

Reviews

[Marvin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I don't think I've gotten such pleasure from a book about everyday people doing everyday things since Anna Quindlen's Blessings. It's a difficult book to summarize. This brilliantly written book is full of dysfunctional individuals, but unlike so much contemporary fiction, it focuses not so much on the dysfunctional behavior as on how these isolated individuals learn in the course of the novel to function almost as a supportive family, or in the words often thought by probably the most dysfunctional of them, "how do people live in this world?" One of the characters is a Unitarian/Universalist minister, and her struggles confirm many of my biases about UUs], but I'm pretty sure that's not a reason I liked it. In fact, as with the dysfunction of the individual characters, the author focuses more on the redemptive work the congregation (and especially its minister) accomplishes in the lives of the mostly irreligious or even antireligious main characters than on the congregation's dysfunctions. Besides, their dysfunctions are hardly unique to UUs & could mostly be found as readily in Presbyterian or other congregations. It's a unique book with unique characters, but don't expect a fast-paced story! Just sit back and enjoy the characters & their amusing efforts to come to terms with life.

[Judith · Rating 4 out of 5]

Noting again the food in this book, I was not surprised to find that Michelle Huneven is a restaurant critic; what I didn't know is that she is such a 'spiritual' critic. The deep examination of spirituality through the character Helen, a UU minister is more satisfying than the deep examination of spiritualism through the William James descendant Alice Black, but I read both carefully. Many phrases made me gasp at their beauty and many made me smile at their wit. I think the book is too big and tries to encompass too many important and serious topics, certainly spirit in all its manifestations, but also movie stars, the afterlife, madness, Catholicism, homeless people,adultery, anger, and about twenty more. It is a very wise book. Way too messy. Really good.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Between 3 and 4 stars- I really enjoy Hueven's writing style,and sometime's it's so Nice to read a book that ties up loose ends and gives you a warm fuzzy feeling inside. I liked the philosophy bits, and I'm a huge sucker for characters, so I enjoyed those as well. That being said, some parts are a too unrealistic, and the characters' faults are almost universally erased or turned into virtues by the end of the book - I was very happy reading it, but in retrospect I'm less content. Still a good book, quick, easy, and enjoyable!

[Hanje Richards · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am a Michelle Huneven fan, and am glad I finally read this book after being put off the book by the cover (yes, I do judge books by their covers). A good story. I think it will be especially appreciated by Unitarian Universalist ministers and their spouses/partners and friends. There is stuff in there that you just can't make up. You will find yourself smiling and/or cringing at times. It is so real, so honest. This is not for everyone, but I am thinking that at least some of my friends will enjoy this as much as I did.

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I can't decide between 3 and 4 stars. It's a quirky book, which I liked. Characters who are unbearable and annoying at first somehow quickly become endearing and likeable, despite the stupid things they say and do. Drags a bit at points, but includes well-described and delicious-sounding food.

[Martha · Rating 4 out of 5]

Love this author. This compelling novel of a group of “ lost souls” who come together at random started slowly but gathered momentum to a satisfying conclusion. I grew to love each character as much as they grew to love each other.

[Nissa Milberger · Rating 4 out of 5]

really enjoyed this! a beautiful portrait of ordinary people

[Nicole · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one was OK, it reminded me of Evensong which I read two weeks ago. The similarities are, a woman preacher (Helen) a young woman (Alice) this one is seeing a married man who is not as much older than her as with the other book. He is married to an actress (Jocelyn) she then moves to the town where Alice lives, Pete is there living with his mother after he had a mental breakdown, and his wife left him. They all become friends, Jocelyn opens a restaurant, Pete is her head chef, Alice and Pete become a couple, Jocelyn finds out about Alice but does forgive her.

[Betsy D · Rating 4 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this novel recommended in an issue of the UU World some years ago. There are three main characters--Alice, a 30-something unattached woman without a satisfying job or a partner; Greg, a 40-something divorced man with drinking, drugs, violence in his home (not directed toward a person), and mental breakdown in his past, as well as a career as an outstanding chef; and Helen, a 30-something Unitarian minister, trying to lead her first congregation but meeting lots of resistance. Their growing relationships with each other, and with minor characters who intersect them, drive all the plot. In LA. Goodreads synopsis says: "[it is] a witty, sophisticated, and deeply humane comedy of unlikely redemption." One minor character is William James, the author of The Varieties of Religious Experience, which is largely about mysticism. Alice is his great-granddaughter and lives in the family home, so mystical and spiritual activities come into it, though one doesn't need to accept their validity to enjoy the story.

[Julie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Last year I read Michelle Huneven's most recent novel, Search, and I enjoyed it, so I decided to try one of her older books. This was a weird little book. but I enjoyed it—it had interesting characters, with a mostly compelling plot. Huneven most be an active Unitarian, because like Search, a Unitarian church (and minister) play a major role in the story. Anyway, this definitely kept my interest, so I recommend it.

[Kris · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'm not sure how this one ended up on my to-read list. I suspect it might have been a book group selection for a meeting I wasn't able to attend, and I forgot to take it off hold at the library. At any rate, it was fairly interesting. The characters are everyday people, all flawed and troubled, but the author gives the reader hope for their happiness. This is one of the first books I've read with a Unitarian Universalist minister as a primary character - having been a UU member for 15 years or so, I think her character rang true. More information than I ever thought I wanted to know about William James and his family.

[Allyson McGill · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is the second time I've read this book. The first time was about a year and a half ago, and I loved it. I recommended it for my book group this year, which is why I read it again. I still enjoyed it very much, though it didn't have the same sense of discovery that it had for me on my first reading. I think the characters are all compelling, and the questions about spirituality and one's life, of love, loss, and redemption, are all ones that resonate with me.

[Jennifer · Rating 4 out of 5]

I ended up really liking this book, though it didn't grab me right away. I'm so glad I persevered, because the quirky story of three people trying to make it in the world (Pete's constant refrain: "How do people live in this world?") is both funny, off-beat, and eventually absorbing. That a "successful" life can be lived to many different ways never fails to interest me, and on that note, the book does not disappoint.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book has such a good heart that it is easy to overlook its shortcomings.

[Hallie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Last year I read Search by Huneven and loved it. I can see the beginnings of Search in this book — Huneven's two big loves are the UU faith and food. In Search, that comes through a narrator who is a food critic and a far-from-devout UU congregant. In Jamesland, that manifests through Helen, a UU minister, and Pete, a chef who has careened through the last few years of his life and is now living with his mom (a nun) to get things back on track. But our book opens with Alice, who sees a deer and her Aunt Kate in her house in the middle of the night. In the morning, however, she remembers: Kate has lived at an assisted living facility for years, and the tuft of deer fur looks like it could maybe be something else? What really happened last night?

From there, Huneven takes us on a journey of Alice's self discovery, and it is through Alice learning about herself that we learn about Helen, who hates her ministry job, and Pete, who can hear himself saying terrible things but can't quite seem to stop it. (It's here I will note as a trigger warning that Pete says f*g a borderline "often" amount of times, though it's not out of homophobia, but a tic. As a second and third and fourth trigger warning, there is mention of suicide attempts, alcoholism, infidelity ... the whole nine yards. Things are not great for our Hollywood characters.)

I appreciate Huneven's prose, because in the same novel where you get something cutting, and incisive, like

It was smugness, not cruelty, Helen decided, that was the opposite of compassion.

you also get a goofy, almost Austen-esq sentence like this

She was not going to lock horns with a panpipe band, least of all with the queenly Francine, who, despite her Episcopalian flirtation, could still be classified as a supporter.

But what I most appreciate about Huneven is the moralizing. If you don't want to be preached to, even sans God, skip this read. I personally really enjoyed Helen's sermon snippets and off-the-pulpit insights:

“Sure, but if you deny the divine, you risk deifying the human ego. Any concept of an other—let alone a higher—power becomes untenable. For my group, it’s unthinkable.”

“How can you say that? Even my brilliant genius psychiatrist says my personality is incompatible with life—way-way-way oversensitive.” [says Pete]
“I’m not so sure that puts you at odds with life. I mean, what’s more sensitive than the universe itself, where every action causes an equal and opposite reaction?” [says Helen]
Pete was stopped by this line of reasoning and, taking it in, approved. Imagine if he was the universe manifest—or the universe a vast, macro version of himself.

You can’t just surrender. You have to surrender to something, and have a sense of what that something is. Preferably, it’s something greater and larger and more encompassing than yourself, something dynamic rather than fixed, something that enlarges rather than constricts, something that energizes the spirit and doesn’t deplete it.

But I wasn't just charmed by Helen. Pete's directness grows on you, because you see what a good heart he is and how hard he's trying to be worthy of himself and others. Alice you come to love as she comes to like herself. I found myself especially drawn to this wonderful thought Alice has early in the novel:

Sometimes, when she coughed, a mockingbird outside the window sang back, as if they were conducting a conversation. In this bird’s song Alice identified the neighborhood noises of a three-tone car alarm, the short piercing blears of a microwave timer, the caw of ravens who nested in the palms, and swore, too, she heard Aunt Kate’s inflection as she had called Uncle Walter in to dinner, her tone rising on the last syllable. Wall-ter? Wall-ter? But Walter had been gone from Wren Street for seven or eight years. Did mockingbirds live that long? Or did they pass on noises, parent to child, as a senseless, persistent inheritance?

In all, Huneven is now 2/2 for me, so I will likely be taking a chance on even more of her writing.

[Ray · Rating 3 out of 5]

So the gay and trans stuff was really offensive. The book's heart was in the right place and it was of its time to some extent.

I found the first few chapters off putting--i was worried I was in for something too syrupy and with cardboard-ish characters.

I went from feeling pleasantly surprised and happy to be wrong to, like, almost elated. Yeah the plot gets a bit outlandish, and I could care less about William James, but there is something cool here.

Also, a true feel good book. It was syrupy but in a way that is palatable for secular humanists (lol).

Overreaching yes, but Helen and Pete, their characters are especially well done.

[Stephanie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Beautiful tale of interwoven lives and personalities. Huneven shows us that no matter one’s flaws and so-called imperfections, we are all perfect in our own way. This is a lesson in acceptance and honesty, of others and oneself. Pete’s, Aunt Kate’s, and Dr. Freeman’s bluntness is not judgmental, it is a huge relief and in the end more compassionate and kind than all the tiptoeing and contorting we seem to do these days. Eventually Alice gets there, too ...

[Sequana · Rating 5 out of 5]

I so love this book that I want to go back and read it again soon!
Beautifully written prose, an enchanting cast of characters, and it touches on so many subjects that I love.
Psychologically engaging, flawed and oh so human characters, exploration of spiritual experiences and possibilities of afterlife, dreams, cooking…and more…all set in Los Angeles and Griffith Park.
To say more would spoil the fun of discovering how this book will touch your heart.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved the first hundred pages but then started looking at the pages left and didn't have it in me to finish. A ton of character development if you love that sort of thing and sparkling, admirable writing chops, but I lost interest in what was going to happen. Seemed a bit predictable to me. But again, Huneven is a tremendous writer. No problem with the writing. So good.

[Glen Creason · Rating 5 out of 5]

Depth of knowledge in several fields by author gave characters depth and spiced the story up delightfully. Her prose just flows and the off-kilter heroine just seems more human the more flaws she exposes. An unsung LA book

[William · Rating 4 out of 5]

Alice, Pete & Helen, all flawed individuals but oh so likeable and interesting.
Michele treats her characters tenderly and I like that. Written with humor and intelligence.
Trust me, this is a good story with great characters in a damn well written book. A delight to read.
My June BOM.

[Arnie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good book. Enjoyed the character development and its exploration of many areas: religion, community, food. Author is a great storyteller and brings humor and an understanding of people and their flaws to her writing.

[SarahRead · Rating 5 out of 5]

6 stars. I really loved this book

[Mary Lea]

This book is so enjoyable. Smart. Quirky and very L.A. and very fun to read.

[Susan Beecher · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book. The characters are flawed, quirky and interesting.

[Anna · Rating 4 out of 5]

Rotund boy and girl failure

[BookstagramETC]

Michelle says, "Everybody in it is having a spiritual emergency." Helen is the earlier version of the long lost friend/pastor we see later in Search.

[Fred Henderson · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

[camiii · Rating 2 out of 5]

1.65

[Kenneth Feeney · Rating 5 out of 5]

Michelle creates characters from divergent backgrounds and weaves their lives together. A great story and a great story teller. I have never been disappointed.