Twice shortlisted for the Booker Prize, Julian Barnes continues to
reinvigorate the novel with his pyrotechnic verbal skill and playful
manipulation of plot and character. In Love, etc. he uses all the
surprising, sophisticated ingredients of a delightful farce to create a
tragicomedy of human frailties and needs.
After spending a decade in America as a successful businessman, Stuart
returns to London and decides to look up his ex-wife Gillian. Their
relationship had ended years before when Stuart's witty, feckless,
former best friend Oliver stole her away. But now Stuart finds that the
intervening years have left Oliver's artistic ambitions in ruins and his
relationship with Gillian on less than solid footing. When Stuart begins
to suspect that he may be able to undo the results of their betrayal, he
resolves to act. Written as an intimate series of crosscutting
monologues that allow each character to whisper their secrets and
interpretations directly to the listener, Love, etc. is an unsettling
examination of confessional culture and a profound refection on the
power of perspective.
