Various Pets Alive and Dead by Marina Lewycka

Various Pets Alive and Dead

Marina Lewycka

This is a very funny book about family and ethics. Amid the global financial crisis, Doro sets out to tell her grown up children some good news. But each is preoccupied with a crisis of their own: Serge, putting their commune childhood behind him, is making good money in banking but can't face telling Doro. Oolie-Anna wants to leave home. And Clara, teaching in a difficult school, has to confront past demons in the form of a class hamster.

Extract
Now let's jumble up these risks and repackage them. Let's put together a bundle which includes, say, the lightning strike, him and Maroushka in bed, and Chicken having a heart attack. The chances of them all happening are still pretty low, because of the lightning strike. But if you take out the lightning strike, what are you left with? Serge hasn't a clue - and the truth is, neither have most people who trade in risk-based derivatives.
Parallels
  • A Long Way Down by Nick Nornby
  • My Fat Brother by Jim Keeble
  • The Full Monty - the film
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Explicit sexual content