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Lionel Shriver

So Much for That Hardcover – 9 Mar. 2010

by Lionel Shriver (Author)

4.2 1,101 ratings

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“Shriver has a gift for creating real and complicated characters… A highly engrossing novel.” — San Francisco Chronicle

From New York Times bestselling author Lionel Shriver (The Post-Birthday World, We Need to Talk About Kevin), comes a searing, deeply humane novel about a crumbling marriage resurrected in the face of illness, and a family’s struggle to come to terms with disease, dying, and the obscene cost of medical care in modern America.

Print length

436 pages
Language

English
Publisher

HarperCollins
Publication date

9 Mar. 2010
Dimensions

15.24 x 3.48 x 22.86 cm
ISBN-10

0061458589
ISBN-13

978-0061458583
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Product description

From the Back Cover

From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestseller The Post-Birthday World comes a searing, ruthlessly honest new novel about a marriage both stressed and strengthened by the demands of serious illness.

Shep Knacker has long saved for "The Afterlife": an idyllic retreat to the Third World where his nest egg can last forever. Traffic jams on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway will be replaced with "talking, thinking, seeing, and being"—and enough sleep. When he sells his home repair business for a cool million dollars, his dream finally seems within reach. Yet Glynis, his wife of twenty-six years, has concocted endless excuses why it's never the right time to go. Weary of working as a peon for the jerk who bought his company, Shep announces he's leaving for a Tanzanian island, with or without her.

Just returned from a doctor's appointment, Glynis has some news of her own: Shep can't go anywhere because she desperately needs his health insurance. But their policy only partially covers the staggering bills for her treatments, and Shep's nest egg for The Afterlife soon cracks under the strain.

Enriched with three medical subplots that also explore the human costs of American health care, So Much for That follows the profound transformation of a marriage, for which grave illness proves an unexpected opportunity for tenderness, renewed intimacy, and dry humor. In defiance of her dark subject matter, Shriver writes a page-turner that presses the question: How much is one life worth?

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ HarperCollins (9 Mar. 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 436 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0061458589
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0061458583
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 15.24 x 3.48 x 22.86 cm

Customer reviews:
4.2 1,101 ratings

About the author

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Lionel Shriver

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Lionel Shriver is a novelist whose previous books include Orange Prize–winner We Need to Talk About Kevin, The Post-Birthday World, A Perfectly Good Family, Game Control, Double Fault, The Female of the Species, Checker and the Derailleurs, and Ordinary Decent Criminals.

She is widely published as a journalist, writing features, columns, op-eds, and book reviews for the Guardian, the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, the Financial Times, the Economist, Marie Claire, and many other publications.

She is frequently interviewed on television, radio, and in print media. She lives in London and Brooklyn, NY.

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4.2 out of 5

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Amazon customer

Funny and moving

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 21 May 2023

Verified Purchase

Excellent read. I think one of her best books.

Helpful

Philtrum

Inspector Knacker of the Yard tackles the US Healthcare System

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 30 October 2013

Verified Purchase

I'd not read anything by Shriver prior to reading this, her ninth novel - not even We Need To Talk About Kevin - but was prompted to do so by a doctor commenting that this novel was an accurate portrayal of the impact of a healthcare system which is not free at the point of (ab)use - unlike our beloved NHS in the UK.

While the novel is indeed about the US healthcare system, it's not really ABOUT the US healthcare system - in the same way that Lord Of The Rings isn't really ABOUT elves, orcs and hobbits. So Much For That is about mortality, the meaning of life and human relationships - so, just the boring stuff!

Shepherd `Shep' Knacker is in his early 50s. Throughout his adult life he's dreamed of giving up the rat-race and moving to a developing country where the cost of living is a fraction of that in the US. He and wife, Glynis, use their yearly holidays as reconnaissance missions but as the years go by, as Shep works hard, building up a $700,000 nest-egg, Glynis clearly loses interest.

The novel begins as Shep plans an ultimatum. He buys tickets to Africa and tells Glynis that he's leaving, with or without (but preferably with) her. Glynis listens as Shep attempts to persuade her to accompany him and then drops a bombshell. She has inoperable cancer - mesothelioma - a nasty cancer of the lining of the lungs caused by asbestos exposure.

Shep drops his plans like a handful of hot stones and devotes all his energy to his role as dutiful husband. He's also a dutiful son (to his aged father who ends up in a nursing home), brother (to his feckless, selfish, demanding sister) and friend (to Jackson, his best friend and co-worker).

As the novel unfolds, Shep's nest-egg dwindles alarmingly, Glynis suffers as a result of all the various `treatments' for her cancer, Jackson comes to terms with his own medical problem and rails against `the man', Shep's sister becomes more demanding and the three main characters ruminate on `what it's all about'.

I struggled a little to get into this novel. None of the characters seemed, initially, particularly likeable. Shep seemed to be little more than doormat. Glynis seemed self-absorbed and callous. Jackson seemed simply boorish. But - presumably as a testament to Shriver's writing skills - as the novel progressed so I came to like - and care about - them all.

Some reviewers have praised the book because it tackles the problems of the US healthcare system. Others have criticised it for the same reason. Perhaps due to my medical background, other than some astonishment at the cost, this didn't really get in the way for me at all.

Shriver handles Glynis's terminal illness - and Shep's reaction to it - exceptionally well. I read the last 80 pages or so in one session and was - I'm not ashamed to admit - in tears at certain points. Sure, the ending involved a plot development which wasn't quite believable but, hey, it's fiction!

Shep's surname was something of a stumbling block for me. I kept thinking `Inspector Knacker of the Yard' which will mean something only to those who can recall `The Two Ronnies' (a British TV sketch show) from the late 70s.

A very good book, very well written, about the important stuff in life. Highly recommended. I will be reading some of Shriver's other books in due course.

8/10

3 people found this helpful

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Youdontownme

Intelligent, thought-provoking, inspirational, brilliant.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 9 June 2011

Verified Purchase

This is a book about death, the cost of a life and ultimately, the worth of a life. It's by Lionel Shriver so you can guess it won't be a saccharine account of tearful farewells and dignified deaths attended by families brought closer through tragedy.

Glynis, the wife of a play-by-the-rules nice guy, Shep, is striken with a deadly cancer for which there is no cure. Glynis is not a 'nice guy'and doesn't take her illness lying down. She fights while Shep depletes his considerable cash reserves hand over fist to upgrade the care she can get through his less than optimal health insurance, all in response to her doctor's urging to 'fight' and 'battle'even though everyone knows how the illness will end.

Shep has, all his life, held onto a dream of earning enough money to retire early to a simpler place, away from the humdrum and stresses of his life. The money to fund this adventure is eroded as he does all he can to support his wife, his father, his daughter and his sister (who has to be the most annoying character to ever grace the pages of a book ...)

The tale is interspersed with a harsh commentary on health services in the US and I think a lot of people living in the UK will come away from reading this with an even greater appreciation for what a blessing the NHS - even with its many faults - really is. There is also a fair amount of fury directed at taxation, authority and government - in the US and elsewhere - for good measure.

I love Lionel Shriver's books and particularly her female characters who are larger than life, have real opinions and are not afraid to voice them. And can she ever write bitchy well! Delicious!

I don't want to spoil the ending, but I was surprised to find it uplifting and inspirational. Having recently lost my mother to cancer, there were some observations in the book that resonated with me and in a very real way have helped me to come to terms with some of the aspects of her illness that I was struggling with.

It's a book that makes you think ... well it's Lionel Shriver, so of course it does!

4 people found this helpful

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So Much for That Hardcover – 9 Mar. 2010

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