I’m also not going to do my regular Exploding Helicopters feature, because This Book Will Save Your Life doesn’t really lend itself to that. It’s no a “wow, what a fucking amamzing sentence” kind of book. In many ways, it reminded me a lot of Attention. Deficit. Disorder. by Brad Listi. Listi’s book is about a guy who is in search of himself following university, and after some bad news. The character or Richard, in A.M. Homes’s book, is about a guy who’s in search of himself after experiencing crippling pain. The pain is never really explained; you come to assume it was psychological, because Richard is lonely and bored, out of touch with his son and rarely leaving the house.
Now, I really enjoyed this book. It runs like a series of episodes which all feed into Richard’s new life as an emotionally stable and supported good guy. You never know exactly what’s going to happene next and all the characters are likeable, even his career-minded ex-wife. Homes’s writing is easy to read and engaging.
But, the thing is, and this may be heartless and naive and stupid and not without a little jealousy, but Richard is rich. He’s rich enough to not have to work and to buy cars for people and go on retreats and not panic when his house falls into a hole and his insurance doesn’t cover it. YOU CAN AFFORD TO FIX YOUR PROBLEMS WHEN YOU DON’T HAVE TO WORK. Hmmph. It was the same in Brad Listi’s book. His protagonist (Wayne, I think), makes money on the stock market before he has his little adventures, and that’s where Richard’s cash comes from too. Of course, it’s never simple, and I was gunning for Richard’s happiness throughout the book. I just have this barrier that prevents me from completely empathising with a man who has a nutritionist.
A.M. Homes - This Book Will Save Your Life
Publication date: 2007
Publisher: Granta
Price then: £7.99
Price now: £1.50
Bought from: Dude under the flyover on Oxford Road, Manchester
