Two and a half stars. This was the third book of Elliot Perlman's books I read. What always stood out to me, even as I think of it now, was how much I identified with the protagonist. I still do.
That said, I didn't have as much of an emotional attachment to this work as I do other books of Elliot Perlman's. After a few re-reads over the years, I gave it to a used-bookshop.
I always got the feeling as a reader that the protagonist would ultimately not suffer very much, except from his own (likely) anxiety disorder. The story is bland. It's a portrayal of a marriage in which little out of the ordinary happens. The protagonist just worries he'll lose everything.
Even when he has only three dollars in his bank account, I saw that as "wow, that's a horrible wakeup call! What will he do now? Oh, sit there and reflect on his life? Bored now!"
I wanted to like his wife more than I did. I had zero interest in their daughter whatsoever, and was so detached from the story in general. But, the protagonist saw the world like I did for a long time. That's why I kept it.

I don't recommend this book to others, even when I rave about how stirring and well-written Elliot Perlman's works are. It's just not there for me. I am glad I read and re-read it a few times. It was a good reading experience for me to have, to realize I can read a book a few times for different reasons, and ultimately realize that it doesn't do much for me. ( )

This books focuses on economic rationalism that destroys the humanity of ordinary people when they are confroonted with unemployment and poverty

Un roman touchant... avec une certain e étrangeté et un indéfinissable sentiment de décalage. ( )

This is the story of how Eddie Harnovey ended up at age 38 with a wife, a 6 year old daughter, a university education and work experience in chemical engineering, but with no job and only $3 in his pocket. Even though the book was written in the 1990's it feels absolutely up-to-date and timely in terms of the ever-increasing, cut-to-the bone expense practices of today's corporations, together with a big dose of the difficulties of holding onto one's ideals as one makes a way through a world of post-Reagan/post-Thatcher economic practices.

The novel begins "Every nine and a half years I see Amanda....", and each time Eddie sees Amanda he has only $3 in his pocket. Eddie and Amanda are best friends, until at the end of Eddie's 9th summer, when Amanda is yanked from his life for no reason he can discern. We follow Eddie through his university training, his marriage, and his career in a government bureaucracy similar to the US's EPA (the book is set in Melbourne), in which he must approve/disapprove mining plans, and through his touching trials of fatherhood.

I've liked the other books by Elliot Perlman better--Seven Types of Ambiguity and The Street Sweeper, but Perlman is an excellent writer, and I'd probably try anything by him. This is not quite up to his best, but it's still quite worthwhile, and I recommend it.

3 stars ( )

A lovely book from one of my favourite authors. The whole story seems very true of the present age, where a university graduate with a good job, a wife and family and all going well, can finish up at the bottom of the heap with all these things lost and only three dollars to his name. This is what can happen in the world today if a person is not prepared to "toe the line" with developers and insists on telling the truth. We have seen this happen with "whistleblowers". Having recently read Tim Winton"s "Eyrie" I felt that this could well be the story of the leading character in that book who had come to his situation via similar circumstances.
All the characters are very well drawn. I found the book a very enjoyable read and do no agree with the previous. rather pompous review of stillatim. Sorry. ( )