So Much for That by Lionel Schriver

What do you pack for the rest of your life? The explosive new novel from the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk About Kevin

Shepherd Knacker has been saving all his working life for a one way ticket away from the daily grind. When he sells his handyman business for $1million, ‘The Afterlife’ seems tantalisingly within reach. Yet his wife has concocted one reason after another why now isn’t the time to go. Determined to take the plunge, Shep announces that he is leaving for an island off the coast of Tanzania: with or without her. However, Glynis has an announcement of her own – she needs his health insurance.

Illustrating how a marriage is both stressed and strengthened by medical crisis, So Much for That puts the uncomfortable fiscal question: how much is one life worth? Enlivened by Shriver’s signature acerbity and political outrage, it’s surely the funniest and most entertaining novel about illness and death one’s ever likely to read.

Scores on the doors:

Jane  not at meeting
Pauline C   9
Elaine E  9
Rebecca H   7
Janet J   not read
Janine J   9
Sally M   7
Cai M   8
Christine P   5
Trude S. 9
June T   9

Pauline C
Score:

Vernon God Little by DBC Pierre

August 6th:

Named as one of the 100 Best Things in the World by GQ magazine in 2003, the riotous adventures of Vernon Gregory Little in small town Texas and beachfront Mexico mark one of the most spectacular, irreverent and bizarre debuts of the 21st century so far. Its depiction of innocence and simple humanity (all seasoned with a dash of dysfunctional profanity) in an evil world is never less than astonishing. The only novel to be set in the barbecue sauce capital of Central Texas, Vernon God Little suggests that desperate times throw up the most unlikely of heroes.

Scores on the Doors:

Jane   5
Pauline C   6
Elaine E   6
Rebecca H   Not Read
Janet J   5
Janine J   8
Sally M   8
Cai M   Not Read
Christine P   8
Trude S.   8
June T   8

June T
Score:

Life by Keith Richards

With the Rolling Stones, Keith Richards created the riffs, the lyrics and the songs that roused the world, and over four decades he lived the original rock and roll life: taking the chances he wanted, speaking his mind, and making it all work in a way that no one before him had ever done.

Now, at last, the man himself tells us the story of life in the crossfire hurricane. And what a life. Listening obsessively to Chuck Berry and Muddy Waters records as a child in post-war Kent. Learning guitar and forming a band with Mick Jagger and Brian Jones. The Rolling Stones’ first fame and success as a bad-boy band. The notorious Redlands drug bust and subsequent series of confrontations with a nervous establishment that led to his enduring image as outlaw and folk hero. Creating immortal riffs such as the ones in ‘Jumping Jack Flash’ and ‘Street Fighting Man’ and ‘Honky Tonk Women’. Falling in love with Anita Pallenberg and the death of Brian Jones. Tax exile in France, wildfire tours of the US, ‘Exile on Main Street’ and ‘Some Girls’. Ever increasing fame, isolation and addiction. Falling in love with Patti Hansen. Estrangement from Mick Jagger and subsequent reconciliation. Solo albums and performances with his band the Xpensive Winos. Marriage, family and the road that goes on for ever. In a voice that is uniquely and intimately his own, with the disarming honesty that has always been his trademark, Keith Richards brings us the essential life story of our times.

Scores on the Doors:

Jane B     7
Pauline C    6
Elaine E   4
Rebecca H   6
Janet J   0
Janine J   7
Sally M   5
Cai M   3
Christine P   7
Trude S   NR
June T   3

Jane B
Score: