{"product_id":"the-postbirthday-world-isbn-9780061187841","title":"The Post-Birthday World","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003e“Complex and nervy, Shriver’s clever meditation will intrigue anyone who has ever wondered how things might have turned out had they followed, or ignored, a life-changing impulse.” —\u003cem\u003e People\u003c\/em\u003e (Critic's Choice)\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eThis dazzling novel from the Orange Prize–winning author of the international bestseller \u003cem\u003eWe Need to Talk About Kevin \u003c\/em\u003etakes a psychological and deeply human look at love and volition\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eDoes the course of life hinge on a single kiss? Whether the American expatriate Irena McGovern does or doesn’t lean into a certain pair of lips in London will determine whether she stays with her smart, disciplined, intellectual American partner Lawrence, or runs off with Ramsey—a wild, exuberant British snooker star the couple has known for years. Employing a parallel-universe structure, Shriver follows Irena’s life as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn a tour de force that, remarkably, has no villains, Shriver explores the implications, both large and small, of our choice of mate—a subject of timeless, universal fascination for both sexes.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eIn this eagerly awaited new novel, Lionel Shriver, the Orange Prize-winning author of the international bestseller \u003cem\u003eWe Need to Talk About Kevin\u003c\/em\u003e, delivers an imaginative and entertaining look at the implications, large and small, of whom we choose to love. Using a playful parallel-universe structure, \u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e follows one woman's future as it unfolds under the influence of two drastically different men.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eChildren's book illustrator Irina McGovern enjoys a quiet and settled life in London with her partner, fellow American expatriate Lawrence Trainer, a smart, loyal, disciplined intellectual at a prestigious think tank. To their small circle of friends, their relationship is rock solid. Until the night Irina unaccountably finds herself dying to kiss another man: their old friend from South London, the stylish, extravagant, passionate top-ranking snooker player Ramsey Acton. The decision to give in to temptation will have consequences for her career, her relationships with family and friends, and perhaps most importantly the texture of her daily life.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eHinging on a single kiss, this enchanting work of fiction depicts Irina's alternating futures with two men temperamentally worlds apart yet equally honorable. With which true love Irina is better off is neither obvious nor easy to determine, but Shriver's exploration of the two destinies is memorable and gripping. Poignant and deeply honest, written with the subtlety and wit that are the hallmarks of Shriver's work, \u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e appeals to the what-if in us all. \u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“Shriver has a gift for creating real and complicated characters and putting them in less-than-simple situations…Highly engrossing novel…” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSan Francisco Chronicle\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hot.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Fascinating.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eChristian Science Monitor\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A brilliant ‘what if?’ novel. But that barely scrapes the surface in describing Shriver’s imaginative feat…. Shriver holds up a prism, one that refracts a spectrum of possibility in character and consequences…. It’s heady, very grown-up stuff—even when the grown-ups are behaving badly. . . . But what’s most impressive about \u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e is its simultaneous cohesion… and unpredictability…. It’s mad genius. Few novelists can so successfully pull off one novel. In a tour de force, Shriver manages two.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Ingenious...delightful...[Shriver] has produced a novel that’s equal parts entertainment and psychological massage.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePhiladelphia Inquirer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Ingenious....there is an impressive freshness in her treatment. The writing is intelligent, the characterisation thoughtful, the insights into love, sex and snooker sharp. After her acclaimed 2003 novel, We Need To Talk About Kevin, Shriver confirms her reputation as an original talent.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMail on Sunday\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver’s an extraordinary writer. Her perceptiveness of male-female relationships is unsettling, dangerous, familiar and voyeuristic. [The Post-Birthday World is] impossible to put down.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDaily Telegraph (Australia\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Extraordinary...Before it was co-opted and trivialized by chick lit, romantic love was a subject that writers from Flaubert to Tolstoy deemed worthy of artistic and moral scrutiny. This is the tradition into which Shriver’s novel fits.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“This is a compulsive, clever, wise and witty novel.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Compelling...ingenious...inspired.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Evening Standard (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver is very obviously a perceptive observer and clever chronicler of the human condition, in all its messy, unresolved glory.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Nelson Mail (New Zealand)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver writes with much intelligence and wryness....The twofold nature of the plot...makes for enlightening reading.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIrish Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The Post-Birthday World is a...radical book.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Scotsman\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Provocative….\u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e is…as unflinching as they come.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“In \u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e and the real world, there are no right or wrong choices. There is only life. It’s messy, but consider the alternative. Shriver does. Meticulously.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMiami Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A riveting novel....Refusing to indulge in “happily ever after” fantasies, Shriver has created an adult choose-your-own-ending book, with fascinating results.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDenver Rocky Mountain News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Complex and nervy, Shriver’s clever meditation will intrigue anyone who has ever wondered how things might have turned out had they followed, or ignored, a life-changing impulse.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople (Critic's Choice)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[A] tour de force in literary structure and mastery of language...engrossing.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Telegraph (Australia)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Unflinching…. One certainty is that Ms. Shriver is not interested in fostering illusions about love….\u003cem\u003eThe Post-Birthday World\u003c\/em\u003e is disturbing because it seems real: Irina’s wavering and soul-searching are not the comic vacillations of Bridget Jones, and the choices she makes are not the pragmatic decisions of an emblematic woman ambitious to ‘have it all.’” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Provocative...stunningly intense.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Daily News\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Original and involving...convincing and beautifully told. Highly recommended.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Daring [and] dazzling.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMore Magazine\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Hugely entertaining…tackles the dueling human needs for passion and security with fierce, witty honesty.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eVogue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver writes with elegance and a loaded intensity...she is a brilliant, witty storyteller and the book is utterly compelling.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWeekend Australian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Engaging . . . a testament to Shriver’s ability to make Irina into a thoroughly compelling character, an idiosyncratic yet recognizable heroine about whom it’s impossible not to care.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Outstanding...Shriver, a brilliant and versatile writer, allows these competing stories to unfold organically, each a fully rounded drama, rich with irony, ambiguity, and unforeseeable human complications.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEntertainment Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"HarperCollins","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44889374359781,"sku":"NP9780061187841","price":25.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780061187841.jpg?v=1730231106","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/es\/products\/the-postbirthday-world-isbn-9780061187841","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}