George Hagen

Welcome to George Hagen's Author Site

THE LAMENTS Meet the Laments--the outlandish, stubborn and beguiling family at the center of this dazzling first novel, which begins with a child switched at birth. As the Laments fitfully move from Africa to England to suburban New Jersey, one wonders where they will ever belong. . . . New York Times Book Review Editors' Choice, a A WASHINGTON POST BESTSELLER, a Wall Street Journal Editors’ Pick, A Book Sense Top Ten Pick, and a finalist in the Barnes & Noble Fall 2004 Discover Great New Writers Program, as well as a 2005 Summer Pick on Channel Four’s Richard & Judy’s Summer Read 2005, and won the William Saroyan International Prize for Writing. "Heartrending and surprisingly comic . . . The briskly paced narrative crackles with dry wit, and its abundant surprises will make you weep and guffaw in equal measure." --- People (****) "A thrill ride: bleak, deep and hilarious . . . a family story on speed, with a jolt of black comedy that makes it a close relative to that greatest of all American family stories, The Simpsons." --The New York Times Book Review "Hagen's prose has the bright tart tone of a Zadie Smith or Robertson Davies, as he sounds some gothic notes amid his farce. And his ear for the vernaculars of his various locales is impeccable." --The Seattle Times