Desolation

He has had a full life. Now, in his later years, retired, his second wife getting on his nerves, his love affairs a distant - yet piquant - memory, there are a few things he wants to get off his chest. One man's hilarious, heartrending ruminations, addressed to a son he cannot understand, make up this extraordinary first novel from the author of 'Art'.

As he talks to his too-happy wife Nancy; his housekeeper, Mrs Dacimiento (who still can't fit the bag properly over the rim of the rubbish bin); his reassuringly anguished friend Lionel; his daughter and her husband, an enthusiastic member of the Jewish Ramblers; and to Marissa Botton, his idiotic, irresistible mistress. Until finally a chance encounter with an old friend, and a story she tells, lead him to his final overtures . . .

With a tale at once surprising, dark and achingly funny, Yasmina Reza has written a novel in defence of a life lived passionately. It is a genuine tour de force.