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So Much for That Hardcover – 18 Mar 2010

by
Lionel Shriver (Author)
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Lionel Shriver (Author)
4.2 out of 5 stars 112 customer reviews
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 464 pages
  • Publisher: HarperCollins (18 Mar. 2010)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0007271077
  • ISBN-13: 978-0007271078
  • Product Dimensions: 16.4 x 3.8 x 22.6 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (112 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Bestsellers Rank: 182,375 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Product Description

Review

Wide-ranging, sometimes zany and unpredictable, this is a compelling read. And however many twists Shriver shoves in, you always believe her.
The Times

Many people will like Lionel Shriver's ninth novel – admirers of gripping and clever contemporary fiction, discerning critics and, if there is any justice, literary prize committees.
Guardian

Shriver proves she is not afraid of anything…
Observer

It's a wonder that subject matter on the surface so bleak can be transformed into something so uplifting.
Daily Telegraph

Yes, a brilliantly funny cancer book! You can rely on Lionel Shriver to upend your expectations.
Daily Express

Required reading for all mortals.
Daily Mail

…witty, observant and beautifully controlled. British readers will close this excellent novel feeling grateful for the NHS.
Literary Review

…a visceral and deeply affecting story, a story about how illness affects people's relationships, and how their efforts to grapple with mortality reshape the arcs of their lives.
Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

About the Author

Lionel Shriver's novels include the New York Times bestseller The Post-Birthday World and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin, which won the 2005 Orange Prize and has now sold over a million copies worldwide. Earlier books include Double Fault, A Perfectly Good Family, and Checker and the Derailleurs. Her novels have been translated into twenty-five different languages. Her journalism has appeared in The Guardian, The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and many other publications. She lives in London.

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Customer Reviews

Top Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 starsAn oncologist's view
By peterkirk on 16 Nov. 2010
Format: Hardcover
As one of the main characters lives in the United States and develops incurable inoperable cancer, she receives several courses of treatment all of which have to be funded by and adequate health insurance plan, and so therefore in large part by the patients family, depleting their life savings. Most reviews of the book therefore focus on criticism of the American Healthcare system, but as an oncologist I saw it as a fascinating insight into the dilemmas of cancer patients and their families when they are undergoing palliative chemotherapy, whether it be with traditional or novel treatments.

In the United States, the cost of these treatments is borne by patients, usually via medical insurance policies, whilst in the United Kingdom it will be taken on by the NHS provided the drugs were NICE approved and would only be paid for by individuals if they were not.

Reader of Shriver's novel witness a patient going through ultimately futile treatment with significant toxicity, whilst her hopes are inappropriately raised by her oncologist and her colluding family and friends, at least initially however after the cancer and chemotherapy have taken an increasing toll, her husband asked the doctor how must he estimates the treatment has cost. "About two and a half million," replies the oncologist. "What do we get for that," enquires the husband. "I think it gave her a good 3 months extra," says the doctor. "It may have been extra," says the husband, "but none of it was good". This sentiment rings true. Patients expectations of palliative chemotherapy, and particularly the much publicised new drugs, are inappropriately raised by their own hopes, the media, and sadly often by their treating physician.Read more ›
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5.0 out of 5 starsHealth Warning: Not for the Faint-hearted
By christine a on 16 Aug. 2010
Format: Hardcover
Lionel Shriver's latest novel is first and foremost about the death-denying culture all Western countries live in. Not a pretty subject for a novel but her skill as a writer drew me in (against my better judgement at first as I felt I was being manipulated (which I was) and that she was just piling on the agony (which she was). She homes in on the relentless upbeat focus on getting better at all costs. It is a shocking (to a European) indictment of the American healthcare system and she includes a succinct paragraph on the latter's historical context (P.262) so we know how things came to be so. In addition to her central theme, her sharp insights into the way we live now - Property prices "homeowner smugness", Abortion, profound physical disability, modern care homes "architecturally lobotomised" - haunt you after you've put the book down. So all things told, it deserves 5 stars for being a thumping good read though I wonder if we should all be sending David Cameron & Andrew Lansley each a copy as a cautionary tale of what will happen if they let the long arm of capitalism recruit the medical establishment to do its bidding.
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5.0 out of 5 starsHeart-rending story written with great verve
By Bluebell TOP 500 REVIEWER on 7 Jun. 2010
Format: Hardcover Verified Purchase
I first experienced Lionel Shriver's writings in her tour de force of a book We Need to Talk About Kevin: a book that left me drained by the powerful feelings and events. In 'So much for that' the author again stirs a tremendous emotional response in me by her heart-rending story of the destruction of Shep Knacker's dreams for his future caused mainly by having to pay huge amounts of money to try and save his wife's life after she's diagnosed with an aggressive form of cancer. Shep is also put upon by members of his extended family and by life in general. This all sounds like a dreary and depressing story, but it isn't. OK, it makes me feel angry at the unfairness of the American health 'service', about which the author is excoriating in her dissection of it's inadequacies, but Shriver's writing is so acerbic, witty and often funny that I am captivated to keep on reading.

The author delves into taboo areas of human feeling and behaviour and makes one wonder at how one would react under similar stressful situations both as the patient or as a bystander to others suffering. There's some grim, and accurate, sections relating Shep's wife's extreme side-effects from her chemotherapy: so not a book, perhaps, for those undergoing similar treatment. Nevertheless, I think it's a terrific book that makes me even more grateful that the NHS exists.

This is one of those books that stays with you long after you've finished reading it. Not only is it an engrossing story, but it is also a thought-provoking analysis of the value of life, beliefs, and how to deal with the approach of death.
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5.0 out of 5 starsThank goodness for the NHS!
By Sarah K on 28 Mar. 2010
Format: Hardcover
Amongst other things this book made me realise why we in the UK are so very fortunate to have the NHS and must fight to protect it. I wasn't expecting to enjoy a book about terminal illness, its effects on family and friends, but I found that I did enjoy it immensely. Although So Much For That is at times harrowing and frightening, it is also at other moments very funny indeed. Lionel Shriver's new novel is very rewarding and thought-provoking. I will be recommending it to my friends.
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3.0 out of 5 starsLess would be More
By Antenna TOP 500 REVIEWER on 5 Jun. 2011
Format: Paperback Verified Purchase
The inadequacy of the US health insurance system; the complex, shifting emotions within a relationship in which the wife is struck by possibly terminal cancer; the dynamics of a family in which one child has a degenerative disease: these themes could combine to make a moving and opinion-changing masterpiece, but call for a subtlety and lightness of touch to make so much pain bearable. For the first half of the book I felt oppressed by the opposite, that is, the tsunami of words, the detailed, by turns pettifogging or unsavoury descriptions, lengthy digressions and rambling rants, always three or more examples where one would do. There are also some very original or telling comments, although they are at risk of getting lost in all the verbiage.

The story begins with Shep Knacker packing a bag to present his wife with an ultimatum: the time has come for him to travel to the idyllic African island where he has decided to settle, and he plans to take off whether she accompanies him or not. This could serve to reveal a good deal about our "hero" but instead becomes a pretty negative description of his wife. I would much rather have discovered what Glynis is like through situations and dialogues than be told what to think. Admittedly, some descriptions are very striking:

"..in art school, Glynis had not chosen her medium by accident. She naturally identified with any material that so fiercely refused to do what you wanted it to, whose form was resistant to change and responded only to violent manhandling. Metal was obstreperous. Were it ever mistreated, its dents and scratches caught the light like grudges." It's the last sentence that stands out for me.Read more ›
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Fabulous read could not put it down

Published 1 month ago by Amazon Customer
2.0 out of 5 starsA chugging tale........

Although the basic story line and various characters from the two main families remain interesting throughout -there is an exhaustive amount of vocabulary which slows and drains... Read more

Published 5 months ago by VAA
5.0 out of 5 starsAngry, heart-warming, articulate and accurate.

This novel is a real tour de force and one I'm not sure I could read twice. Shep Knacker may be Shriver's self-professed 'most sympathetic of all my characters' and he is, indeed,... Read more

Published 6 months ago by A. Thomas
5.0 out of 5 starsGood service

Great book. Good service.

Published 7 months ago by JMA
4.0 out of 5 starsFour Stars

Really enjoyable

Published 8 months ago by Amazon Customer
4.0 out of 5 starsA very good read.

Well written, thought-provoking and a very good read.

Published 12 months ago by Tracy W
5.0 out of 5 starsFinding humour in terminal cancer. Only Lionel Shriver could ...

Finding humour in terminal cancer. Only Lionel Shriver could pull this off with such aplomb. I am yet to find one of her books which doesn't stay with me for a long time after I... Read more

Published 15 months ago by N E Armitage
4.0 out of 5 starsWorth a read

Well written as usual for Lionel Shriver but not my favourite of hers.

Published 16 months ago by Fanny
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent read, as usual, Lionel shriver at her best.

Published 23 months ago by Sue A.
5.0 out of 5 starsFive Stars

Excellent!

Published 24 months ago by Bernadette

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