Error loading page.
Try refreshing the page. If that doesn't work, there may be a network issue, and you can use our self test page to see what's preventing the page from loading.
Learn more about possible network issues or contact support for more help.

Lights out in Lincolnwood

A Novel

Audiobook
1 of 1 copy available
1 of 1 copy available

A mordantly funny, all-too-real novel in the vein of Tom Perotta and Emma Straub about a suburban American family who have to figure out how to survive themselves and their neighbors in the wake of a global calamity that upends all of modern life.

It's Tuesday morning in Lincolnwood, New Jersey, and all four members of the Altman family are busy ignoring each other en route to work and school. Dan, a lawyer turned screenwriter, is preoccupied with satisfying his imperious TV producer boss's creative demands. Seventeen-year-old daughter Chloe obsesses over her college application essay and the state tennis semifinals. Her vape-addicted little brother, Max, silently plots revenge against a thuggish freshman classmate. And their MBA-educated mom Jen, who gave up a successful business career to raise the kids, is counting the minutes until the others vacate the kitchen and she can pour her first vodka of the day.

Then, as the kids begin their school day and Dan rides a commuter train into Manhattan, the world comes to a sudden, inexplicable stop. Lights, phones, laptops, cars, trains...the entire technological infrastructure of 21st-century society quits working. Normal life, as the Altmans and everyone else knew it, is over.

Or is it?

Over four transformative, chaotic days, this privileged but clueless American family will struggle to hold it together in the face of water shortages, paramilitary neighbors, and the well-mannered looting of the local Whole Foods as they try to figure out just what the hell is going on.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

  • Formats

  • Languages

  • Reviews

    • Publisher's Weekly

      May 10, 2021
      Rodkey (We’re Not from Here) delivers an irresistible story about a hapless family’s efforts to survive the apocalypse. The Altmans live in Lincolnwood, N.J., a suburb full of high-powered but absent fathers, devoted but drunken mothers, and disaffected children. The Altmans fit right in: Dan Altman recently left his cushy law firm to spend all his time chasing a screenwriting dream. His wife, Jen, wants to restart her career after a decade heading the PTA, but she’d rather day-drink than network. Chloe, their overachieving daughter, is stressed about the ACTs. And Max, their 14-year-old son, is addicted to his Juul. When everyone’s lives are upended as the lights go out, devices go dark, cars stop working, and planes fall from the sky, Lincolnwood residents are bewildered. But it’s only a matter of days before confusion gives way to chaos. As neighbors flee or join the militia forming to fight the neighboring town for water, the Altmans must face their flaws. Can they loot Whole Foods, outmaneuver their gun-toting neighbors next door, and form a plan for survival? Rodkey’s wry humor turns the upending of modern life into a jovial comedy of errors, and he’s got a skilled hand at charting his characters’ fragilities. Fans of Matt Haig will want to give this a look.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

Languages

  • English

Loading
The Beehive Library Consortium is a consortium of member libraries and the Utah State Library Division.Funds for this program were made possible in part by the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Parents should be aware that children have access to all materials in the online library. The Beehive Library Consortium does not monitor or restrict your child's selections. It is your responsibility as a parent to be aware of what your child is checking out and viewing.