Big Brother - Hardcover

Shriver, Lionel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061458570 ISBN 13: 9780061458576

Publisher: HarperCollins, 2013

Synopsis

Big Brother is a striking novel about siblings, marriage, and obesity from Lionel Shriver, the acclaimed author the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin.

For Pandora, cooking is a form of love. Alas, her husband, Fletcher, a self-employed high-end cabinetmaker, now spurns the "toxic" dishes that he'd savored through their courtship, and spends hours each day to manic cycling. Then, when Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at the airport, she doesn't recognize him. In the years since they've seen one another, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? After Edison has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: It's him or me.

Rich with Shriver's distinctive wit and ferocious energy, Big Brother is about fat: an issue both social and excruciatingly personal. It asks just how much sacrifice we'll make to save single members of our families, and whether it's ever possible to save loved ones from themselves.

About this title

Review:

"Her [Shriver's] best work--"Big Brother" is her twelfth novel--presents characters so fully formed that they inhabit her ideas rather than trumpet them."--"New Republic"

""Big Brother" is vintage Shriver - observant, unsettling, funny, but also, as Pandora admits, 'Very, very sad.'"--"Miami Herald"

"Lionel Shriver's "Big Brother" has the muscle to overpower its readers. It is a conversation piece of impressive heft."--"New York Times"

"Would I recommend "Big Brother"? Absolutely. It confronts the touchy subject of American lard exuberantly and intelligently; it makes you think about what you put in your mouth and why."--"Bloomberg"

"The moving (and shocking) finale will have you thinking about the 'byzantine emotional mathematics' we all put ourselves through when overwhelmed with family responsibilities."--Oprah.com

"Pandora is a masterly creation."--"New York Times Book Review"

"A surprising sledgehammer of a novel"--"The Times" (London)

"A gutsy, heartfelt novel"--"Sunday Times" (London)

As a writer, Shriver s talents are many: She s especially skilled at playing with readers s reflexes for sympathy and revulsion, never letting us get too comfortable with whatever firm understanding we think we have of a character. --"Washington Post""

The moving (and shocking) finale will have you thinking about the byzantine emotional mathematics we all put ourselves through when overwhelmed with family responsibilities. --Oprah.com"

From the Back Cover:

From the acclaimed author of the National Book Award finalist So Much for That and the international bestseller We Need to Talk About Kevin comes a striking new novel about siblings, marriage, and obesity.

When Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at her local Iowa airport, she literally doesn't recognize him. In the four years since the siblings last saw each other, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened?

And it's not just the weight. Imposing himself on Pandora's world, Edison breaks her husband Fletcher's handcrafted furniture, makes overkill breakfasts for the family, and entices her stepson not only to forgo college but to drop out of high school.

After the brother-in-law has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: It's him or me. Putting her marriage and adopted family on the line, Pandora chooses her brother--who, without her support in losing weight, will surely eat himself into an early grave.

Rich with Shriver's distinctive wit and ferocious energy, Big Brother is about fat--an issue both social and excruciatingly personal. It asks just how much we'll sacrifice to rescue single members of our families, and whether it's ever possible to save loved ones from themselves.

About this edition

• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Publication date: 2013
• ISBN 10: 0061458570
• ISBN 13: 9780061458576
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 373