An āoddball fairy taleā (The New York Times)āshortlisted for one of Franceās highest literary prizesāa dark, funny, and wholly charming novel about a young boy and his eccentric family, who grapple with the realities of mental illness in unique and whimsical ways.
A young boy lives with his madcap parents, Louise and George, and an exotic bird in a Parisian apartment, where the unopened mail rises in a tower by the door and his parents dance each night to Nina Simoneās mellifluous classic āMister Bojangles.ā As his mother, mesmerizing and unpredictable, descends deeper into her own mind, it is up to the boy and his father to keep her safeāand, when that fails, happy. Fleeing Paris for a country home in Spain, they come to understand that some of the most radiant people bear the heaviest burdens.
Told from the perspective of a young boy who idolizes his parentsāand from Georgeās journals, detailing his epic love story with his wifeāWaiting for Bojangles is a ālighthearted and yet sorrowful taleā (San Francisco Chronicle) that will stay with you long after the final page.