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My knee-
Hearing a novel touted as a "hot topic", the jerk's reaction was to think of "opportunistic ".
"Most of the time, my doubts make sense. Novels on so-
People who are called hot topics such as terrorism and illegal immigration tend to feel derivative, just a fictional shadow of the serious problems they are trying to solve.
But then there was a gifted novelist like Lionel Schrever, and his new book shut me up and let go of my cynicism, respectfully acknowledge the dramatic depth the novel can bring to the debate of the current event.
Shriver 2005 Award-
What we need to talk about is Kevin, who was inspired by the Columbine massacre;
She made the headlines again to read the satire on price-
Emotional and financial-
Health care in the United States.
The passage of the health care bill does not make it meaningless, and shriver's novel tells the length of time people have used advanced health care, and now more Americans have the opportunity to do so, this is a hot topic.
The hero of schlever is in the middle here.
An old man named Shep Knacker
For years, Shep has run its own successful handyman business in Brooklyn.
He ended up selling it for millions of dollars to fulfill what he jokingly called the "Afterlife ---
Early retirement in third world countries
But Glynis, Shep's wife, is basically a self.
The hired artist, who has been dragging on for eight years since the company sold, has been trying to avoid draining their savings for this life change, shep has always been an employee of the oaf who acquired his company.
Shep already had it when the novel started.
He just bought one.
Clove Road tickets-
On Pemba Island off the coast of Tanzania, Greenness can make up his mind to join him. . . or not.
However, when Shep threw the ticket on the kitchen table that night, Glynis did it himself --in-the-
Intestinal Tract announcement: she was diagnosed with dermatitis (
A particularly fatal cancer associated with asbestos contact).
Shep cannot resign.
They need health insurance for his employees.
Next is a complex social satire that brings the machinery and psychology and vitality of the American health care industry, wisdom, and Dickens's sympathy for the law in the desolate house.
Creative Medical plots abound.
Shep's working partner has a young daughter with a genetic degenerative disease. Shep's own 80-year-
The old father was a mysterious addict, and when he fell down the stairs and broke his femur, he was attracted by Walter Mosley's novel.
Dad went to the nursing home!
Shep's sister is an unemployed documentary producer who has been living with her father and can imagine that she will take care of him, but as Shep reflects in a sour way, "[his sister's]
Her shallow pool was quickly joined by Clara Barton's altruism. . .
The cardboard bookcase of her character has collapsed under heavy pressure.
"The real attraction here is the way Shriver juiced --
In this long and delicious novel, up language and funny social commentary have never appeared.
The chapters of this book contain wonderful pieces about sex and disease; the nitty-
Clean up the rough objects of the patient's body waste;
And the cocktail of drugs needed to fight the side effects of chemotherapy, and then produce their own side effects, need another cocktail of different drugs, unlimited times.
In an effort to stop greenness's cancer, his portfolio fell into bankruptcy, and usually the mild Shep spoke out to her oncologist about her medical preference for relying on military metaphors when talking about cancer treatment: so much, elegantly solved about cutting
Marginal medical treatment of life
Threatening Disease: "What is the cost?
What is the purpose of "and?
"None of us really want to think about these issues, but it's enlightening, interesting and scary to watch Shep go through the process.
Armstrong Ng Merrill Lynch account 934-
23F917December 01,4-
Net portfolio value in December 31, 2004: $731,778.
56 What do you pack for the rest of your life?
Travel on research
He and greenness never called them "holidays"
Shep always cleans up too much to cover every unexpected situation: rain gear, a sweater, it is very likely that the weather in port escondition is extremely cold.
In the face of infinite emergencies, his impulse is nothing.
There is no reasonable reason to sneak up these halls like a thief to steal his own house --
The heel pad on the floor is on the toes and flinch when creaking. He had double-
Checked that Glynis was out all night (
"Appointment ";
Who or where she didn't say that bothered him).
When their son did not have a dinner with his parents last year, he asked for dinner plans under a weak excuse, and he had confirmed that Zach was safely installed while staying at a friend's house for the night.
Shep is alone in the house.
When the weather gets hot, he doesn't have to jump all the time.
He doesn't have to carefully put his hand into the top drawer of the dresser for his boxer, as if now his wrist will be caught and he will be read Miranda.
Except that Shep is a thief to some extent.
Perhaps the most worrying of any American family.
To steal, he got home from work earlier than usual.
His big black Samsonite bag was zippered and placed on the bed, as it did not leave so violently year after year.
So far it contains: a comb.
He forced himself to collect travel shampoo, shaving gear, even if he suspected he would continue to shave after death.
But there was a problem with the electric toothbrush.
Of course, there was electricity on the island, but he did not find out if their plugs were two flat plugs in the United States --
Bulky British triple
Pointed, or European, slender, wideset and round.
He is not sure if the local current is 220 or 110. Sloppy;
These are just some practical details, and in earlier studies they were very strict with taking notes of them.
But they have recently become less systematic, especially greenness, who sometimes slips on recent trips abroad and uses the word "holiday.
I was told by a few people.
At first, Shep had resistance to the discordant cranial hum of Oral B, and finally, when bored, Shep began to enjoy the smoothness of his teeth.
As with all the technological advances, it's not natural to go back and scrub the rough nylon on the plastic stick.
But if Glynis notices his blue when he comes home --
The toothbrush with a ring is missing, and her red ring is still sitting on the sink?
Best of all, she didn't start the evening because of confusion or doubt.
He can always take Zach.
He never heard the kid use it.
But Shep can't see it while brushing his son's toothbrush. (
Of course, Shep has paid the money and almost everything here.
However, there was little or no sense of him in the house.
It used to bother him, but now makes it easier for him to leave the salad spinner, the stair master and the sofa. )
To make matters worse, he shares a charger with greenness.
He didn't want her to leave with a toothbrush that would last five or six days (
He didn't want to leave her at all, but that was another matter)
, It weakened, the terminal trembled, providing a soundtrack for his wife to fall into another cyclical depression.
So, as long as he unscrewed the ledge one or two, he tightened the ledge.
He safely put his handle back on the charger and stole a manual brush from the medicine cabinet.
He will have to get used to the return of technology and, to some extent, he cannot rely entirely on the return of technology for sure to be good for the soul.
Go back to the stage of development that you can understand.
He does not intend to simply cut and run and disappear from his family without announcement or explanation.
It will be cruel, or more cruel.
He also did not show her complete fait accompli and waved goodbye at the door.
Officially, he will face her with a choice that is for credibility and he is paying through his nose.
Most likely he bought only one illusion, but the illusion is priceless.
So he bought not one ticket, but three.
Non-refundable.
If his intuition was not normal, Greenis surprised him and Zach still didn't like it.
But the boy is 15 years old, and what is it for the return of development: once, an American teenager will do what he was told.
In the end, he has too much time to worry about being caught.
Greenness will not be home in a few hours, and the beautiful house is full of people.
Considering the confusion of the plug and current, he threw some hand tools and a Swiss Army knife;
In the general crisis, it is better for you to use a pair of needles --nose Vise-
Better than BlackBerry.
There are only a few shirts because he wants to wear different shirts. Or no shirt.
A person with a Shep career knows that some bits and pieces can make a difference to the satisfied self.
Sufficiency and catastrophic: Tape;
Selection of screws, bolts and washers;
Silicon lubricant;
Plastic sealing glue; rubber bands (
For n' Hampshire old-
A timer like his father);
There is also a small bundle.
Flashlight and AAs stock for power failure.
If he takes only one novel, he should choose it more carefully. An English —
Swahili Handbook, malaria pills, deet.
His prescription for persistent eczema on his ankle can be used up very quickly.
Got so much from Lionel Schrever.
Lionel Shriver Copyright 2010.
Reproduced with permission from Harper Collins Press.
All rights reserved.