The Gift

Description

Phillip’s best friends are richer than he is. They’re more successful. Worst of all, they give fabulous presents: a handmade corkscrew from Venice, an irritatingly perfect jade carving, impossible-to-get soccer tickets. These are gifts that hurt a man’s pride. And they can never be matched. Which doesn’t mean Phillip won’t try … Outrageously funny and deftly observed, The Gift delights in the comically destructive forces of envy and desire that drive us all.

“Flusfeder’s farcical morality tale is darkly comedic but also surprisingly sweet in all the right places.” “A witty, razor sharp novel, with just the right amount of tenderness.” “The best book you’ll give yourself all year. Don’t waste it on anyone else—they don’t deserve it.’ “Unexpectedly wise and generous: a complete story and a very good one.” “A compelling, provokingly ambivalent and often surprisingly tender story.” “Piercingly well-written..a psychological thriller, a meditation on the barrenness of modern, material life [and] a gloomily funny novel.” “Flusfeder is certainly doing something different from and more interesting than most contemporary British novelists.” “A deep and surreal exposition on the cruelty of generosity…the perfect present for your successful friends.” “The perfect gift to answer all gifts…remarkably perceptive…a triumph.” “Flusfeder spins reality into a dream and back again…[giving] us a gift he may find hard to match.” “A moving, desperate farce in which the gifts and their consequences keep on coming…a dashingly written comic novel.” “A black comedy of rare originality…[that] has the makings of a cult classic. Read it and read it again.” “An extremely funny book. Seldom has the desperation of modern man been so devastatingly portrayed.

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