In Josh Henkin’s The World With Out You the Frankel family struggles with the tragic loss and ramifications of the murder of their beloved Leo, a reporter covering the Iraq war. Leo Frankel, who was by turn, son, brother, husband, and father, is a ghost roaming the landscape and memories of the living. By anchoring the story on a post 9/11 4th of July the author invites comparison to Richard Ford’s Independence Day, and intriguingly raises the question of what is left of that simpler and less threatening world inhabited by Ford’s Frank Bascombe. Henkin’s answer is in many ways sublime and reassuring, for despite the overwhelming political nature of the events surrounding Leo’s death, it is still family relationships that endure to forge the next generation. The writing is sharp and propels the reader into the Frankel household with delight and insight, this is not an easy book to put down.