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Summary
Summary
One of the world's most beloved authors returns with the story of a man who found everything he thought he was missing in the family he already had. Robert Harlan has three loves in his life: his wife, Allyson, his daughter, Carson, and his writing. As a sales rep for a small radio station, he has hopes of one day leaving it all behind for a successful writing career. When he is unexpectedly laid off from his job, Allyson encourages him to pursue his dream of writing. He writes a novel entitled A Perfect Day, based on the last few months Allyson and her father spent together as he died of cancer. The story becomes a huge success and Robert finds himself swept into a new world far from his wife and home. In time Robert loses track of the things he loves most...until he meets a stranger who begins telling him intimate details about his past, his present and, most important, the brevity of his future. Thinking that he has just months to live, Robert begins to discover the truth about himself; who he has become, what he has lost and what it will take to find love again. A Perfect Dayis a novel of love and awakening from one of the world's most beloved storytellers.
Author Notes
Richard Paul Evans was born in Salt Lake City, Utah on October 11, 1962. He received a B.A. degree from the University of Utah in 1984. In 1992 while he was an advertising executive, he wrote a story about parental love and the meaning of Christmas for his daughters. The story, The Christmas Box, was copied and passed around to relatives and friends, and was published. It was adapted as an Emmy-winning television movie in 1995 starring Richard Thomas and Maureen O'Hara.
His other fiction works include The Locket, A Perfect Day, Promise Me, Lost December, A Winter Dream, A Step of Faith, and The Mistletoe Promise. His series include the Christmas Box series, The Walk series, and the Michael Vey series. He also writes non-fiction works including The Christmas Box Miracle: My Spiritual Journey of Destiny, Healing, and Hope; The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me about Life and Wealth; The Five Lessons a Millionaire Taught Me for Women; and The Four Doors: A Guide to Joy, Freedom and a Meaningful Life. He has won several awards for his books including Romantic Times best women's novel for The Sunflower.
He is also a public speaker, traveling the country to bring awareness of the problem of neglected and abused children. In 1997, he used his Christmas Box Foundation to begin a shelter for abused and neglected children called the Christmas Box House.
(Bowker Author Biography)
Reviews (3)
Publisher's Weekly Review
Almost 10 years ago, Evans's first novel, The Christmas Box, became an enormous bestseller, thrusting him into the international spotlight. In his present novel, good guy protagonist Robert Harlan writes a novel titled A Perfect Day, about his wife, Allyson, and her relationship with her beloved father. The book comes out to popular acclaim, rockets up the charts and thrusts Robert into a new life of fame and fortune. An extended book tour, constant interviews, the adulation of millions of women, and a greedy Hollywood agent soon begin to erode his perfect marriage to the patient, loving, beautiful Allyson. There have been other books about authors self-destructing after great success-Youngblood Hawke by Herman Wouk, to name a notable example-but it's a story that seems timeless, still able to enthrall readers. Evans freshens the material by bringing in a hipster angel with attitude ("Actually, angel folklore is the height of nonsense, right up there with the Easter Bunny") and some bad news for Robert: in 40 days he's going to die. Robert begins to see his life in a new light, realizing that his pre-fame love for his wife and daughter is what he has wanted all along. But is it too late? Robert learns man's purpose on earth ("It's about learning how to love") and returns to hearth and home, hoping Allyson will take him back before he dies. The inevitable twist is clever, the writing throughout assured, the sentiment unapologetic and the author confident that he knows just what his readers want and that he's the man to give it to them. (Sept. 29) Forecast: The similarities between the fictional author Robert Mason Harlan and the real life author Richard Paul Evans will strike the reader as more than coincidental and lend some buzz to the story. Author tour. (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Booklist Review
The author of The Christmas Box (1994) offers up another sweet tale about the importance of love and family. Robert Harlan isn't completely happy with his job selling radio advertising time, but he's hoping to get a promotion that will at least give him a sense of accomplishment. Robert is stunned when, instead of getting the promotion, he's summoned into his boss' office and fired. Robert agonizes over how he is going to provide for his wife, Allyson, and daughter, Carson. Allyson offers to get a job while Robert pursues his dream of finishing his novel. He takes her up on it, and when finished, sends it out to a slew of agents. The rejections start pouring in, and a dejected Robert goes to work for his brother's sprinkler company. And then an agent contacts Robert, certain she can sell his book. It ends up on the best-seller lists, and Robert is asked to appear on television and at celebrity functions. This doesn't sit too well with Allyson, who feels as though she's losing her husband to the fervor surrounding his book. Evans draws from his own knowledge of being catapulted into best-sellerdom in this moving tale of a man who finds success and then discovers that other things in his life may be more important. --Kristine Huntley Copyright 2003 Booklist
Library Journal Review
An aspiring novelist finally hits the top of the charts. But his marriage hits the skids-until a stranger at a book signing scares him into rethinking his life. (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.