{"product_id":"should-we-stay-or-should-we-go-a-novel-isbn-9780063094253","title":"Should We Stay or Should We Go: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003eWhen\u003cbr\u003eher father dies, Kay Wilkinson can’t cry. Over ten years, Alzheimer’s had steadily\u003cbr\u003eeroded this erudite man into a paranoid lunatic. Surely one’s own father passing should never come as such a relief.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth medical professionals, Kay and her husband Cyril\u003cbr\u003ehave seen too many elderly patients in similar states of decay. Although healthy and vital in\u003cbr\u003etheir early fifties, the couple fears what may lie ahead. Determined to die\u003cbr\u003ewith dignity, Cyril makes a modest proposal. To spare\u003cbr\u003ethemselves and their loved ones such a humiliating and protracted decline, they\u003cbr\u003eshould agree to commit\u003cbr\u003esuicide together once they’ve both turned eighty. When their deal is sealed, the spouses are blithely looking forward to another three decades\u003cbr\u003etogether.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBut\u003cbr\u003ethen they turn eighty.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBy turns hilarious\u003cbr\u003eand touching, playful and grave, \u003cem\u003eShould We Stay or Should We Go\u003c\/em\u003e portrays\u003cbr\u003etwelve parallel universes, each exploring a possible future for Kay and Cyril. Were\u003cbr\u003ethey to cut life artificially short, what would they miss out\u003cbr\u003eon? Something terrific? Or something terrible? Might they end up\u003cbr\u003ein a home? A fabulous luxury retirement village, or a \u003cem\u003eCuckoo’s Nest\u003c\/em\u003e sort of home? Might being demented end up being\u003cbr\u003erather fun? What future for humanity awaits—the end of civilization, or a\u003cbr\u003eValhalla of peace and prosperity? What if cryogenics were really to work? What\u003cbr\u003eif scientists finally cure aging?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eBoth timely\u003cbr\u003eand timeless, Lionel Shriver addresses serious themes—the compromises\u003cbr\u003eof longevity, the challenge of living a long life and still going out in style—with\u003cbr\u003ean uncannily light touch. Weaving in a\u003cbr\u003ehost of contemporary issues, from Brexit and mass migration to the coronavirus,\u003cbr\u003eShriver has pulled off a rollicking page-turner in which we never have to mourn\u003cbr\u003eperished characters, because they’ll be alive and kicking in the very next\u003cbr\u003echapter.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e\"Shriver delivers on a high-concept premise full of alternative narratives based around themes of illness and aging. . . . Readers will be entranced by Shriver's freewheeling meditation on mortality and human agency.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly (starred review)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Her best novel since \u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e . . . .  A return to form, merging Shriver's better instincts as both novelist and social critic.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eKirkus Reviews\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This sharp-elbowed satire is also a brusquely tender portrait of enduring love.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A delight to read. . . . Wildly inventive and sometimes hilarious . . . Shriver may be a contrarian—but she has a sense of humor about it. More to the point, she never lets her politics interfere with the sheer zest of her imagination.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSeattle Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"A wild romp,\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBookreporter.com\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver said that her favourite novels are those that pack both an intellectual and emotional punch. With \u003cem\u003eShould We Stay or Should We Go\u003c\/em\u003e, she’s added triumphantly to their number.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times (UK)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“I think Shriver’s novels are wonderful . . . fun, smart and, perhaps because of their author’s unconventional political views, unlike anything else you’ll read.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFinancial Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Entertaining and poignant.\" - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Mail\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Very moving . . . Shriver has the magic ability to make the reader invested in the fate—fates, I should say—of her characters.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper Perennial","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889712328933,"sku":"NP9780063094253","price":16.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780063094253.jpg?v=1730231800","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/should-we-stay-or-should-we-go-a-novel-isbn-9780063094253","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}