David Gates (1) (1947–)

This is a book for the Jonathan Franzen and Richard Yates lovers amongst us. Willis, the protagonist, is having some sort of midlife crisis. He doesn't exactly know what's making him unhappy or what will actually make him happy, but he's taken a 2 month sabbatical from his PR job in NYC to figure it out. By himself.

The book opens with his family joining him at their second home in backwoods Preston Falls for the Labor Day long weekend which will kick off his sabbatical. Despite being on the show more cusp of having two months pretty much by himself up there, Willis is at snapping point with everyone and everything, and he's done with pretending otherwise. Meanwhile his wife is reaching the end of her tether with his absolute selfishness and total lack of regard for their marriage or sense of responsibility for the children. When a snap reaction results in Willis winding up in the county jail, the gulf in their marriage becomes an ocean, and the delicate balance of their relationship reaches tipping point as Willis' hits the turbo on his me-me-me mode.

This was a fabulous read, and will probably end up one of my favourite books of the year. David Gates ratchets up the tension fantastically about what's going to happen next to Willis and to the marriage. He's out of control and undeserving of all the good things he has in his life, yet somehow we still root for him to get his sh*t together and do the right thing.

Highly recommended for those who enjoy good ole American family / relationship angst novels.

4.5 stars - it lost steam a little towards the end right when it counted, but otherwise this was a brilliant page-turner. show less

Brutally honest, one of those books that you start reading and instantly know it's going to be the best book you've read all year -- maybe in the last five years. Think a Frank Bascombe outlook on life meets John Cheever and a lot of unaware self-loathing, then you'll have your Peter Jernigan.

David Gates is a little arrival for me, but someone I'd have no problem putting next to Carver or Joy Williams. Jutting sentences, beautiful prose, dreary imagery and the best part -- it feels too real. show more Absolutely loved this novel and would easily recommend it to anyone who wants to ride an emotional roller coaster for a few days (oh, and it's pretty funny too). show less

These are not happy little stories. Not that stories need to be happy, of course, but these are depressing in the “this is how life is” kind of way. These are upper class people, for the most part- academics, artists, writers, architects- all people who are well educated. These are people who read Shakespeare to unwind and are too high brow to watch TV- even public TV. These are also people who are very self-aware, which makes you wonder why they continue with their self-destructive show more behaviors, knowing where it will lead them.

For these are people who seem to be all about sex and drugs and alcohol- but no rock and roll; they listen only to classical. Or perhaps some early jazz. They never met an impulse they didn’t like, and they follow through on them pretty much every time. A lot of the main characters are fighting against aging, and the disappointment of not having lived the lives they feel they deserved. They will not go gently into that good night; they will go staggering and slurring, with bottles of Viagra clutched in their hands as they reach for the next young sexual conquest, talking wittily the whole while.

The stories are arranged in a progression; they work their way through sex, to drugs and alcohol, and finally make it to illness and death. Only the last story-the title story, the death story- ends on a hopeful note, with people acting for the long run rather than the immediate impulse. The characters are nearly interchangeable story to story; person who fails in their profession, aging person trying to hold back time by having sex with younger people, person who has spouse but can’t resist having sex with other people, person who drinks too much/does speed/does heroin/smokes too much pot. I suppose the point of the stories is that we’re all, even the most respected of us, animals when it comes down to it.

The stories may be devoid of likable characters, but they are brilliantly written, rather as if noir was written by intellectuals. I think the self-awareness of the narrators makes the stories different from most. They compel a person to keep reading; it’s like being held by a tale at a cocktail party, held by an ancient mariner in tweed. show less

An outstanding start - perfectly paced, beautifully written with a story developing nicely without getting too far fetched for the first two parts of this book. Then when it changes to the wife's perspective, it begins to drag and moves away from Doug and more on to the two (annoying) children. At least 50 pages too long this section,and whilst just as well written, removing Doug out of the equation derails the narrative. The final part, bringing everything to a conclusion feels rushed and show more not almost fully believable in the context of everything else, especially as the first half of the book was so faultless. I would still recommend however, and will be investigating the author's other works. show less