{"product_id":"big-brother-a-novel-isbn-9780061458576","title":"Big Brother: A Novel","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cem\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/em\u003e is a striking novel about siblings, marriage, and obesity from Lionel Shriver, the acclaimed author the international bestseller \u003cem\u003eWe Need to Talk About Kevin\u003c\/em\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e \u003cbr\u003eFor Pandora, cooking is a form of love. Alas, her husband, Fletcher, a self-employed high-end cabinetmaker, now spurns the “toxic” dishes that he’d savored through their courtship, and spends hours each day to manic cycling. Then, when Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at the airport, she doesn’t recognize him. In the years since they’ve seen one another, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened? After Edison has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: It’s him or me.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eRich with Shriver’s distinctive wit and ferocious energy, \u003cem\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/em\u003e is about fat: an issue both social and excruciatingly personal. It asks just how much sacrifice we'll make to save single members of our families, and whether it's ever possible to save loved ones from themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003eFrom the acclaimed author of the National Book Award finalist \u003cem\u003eSo Much for That\u003c\/em\u003e and the international bestseller \u003cem\u003eWe Need to Talk About Kevin\u003c\/em\u003e comes a striking new novel about siblings, marriage, and obesity.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhen Pandora picks up her older brother Edison at her local Iowa airport, she literally doesn't recognize him. In the four years since the siblings last saw each other, the once slim, hip New York jazz pianist has gained hundreds of pounds. What happened?\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAnd it's not just the weight. Imposing himself on Pandora's world, Edison breaks her husband Fletcher's handcrafted furniture, makes overkill breakfasts for the family, and entices her stepson not only to forgo college but to drop out of high school.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAfter the brother-in-law has more than overstayed his welcome, Fletcher delivers his wife an ultimatum: It's him or me. Putting her marriage and adopted family on the line, Pandora chooses her brother—who, without her support in losing weight, will surely eat himself into an early grave.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eRich with Shriver's distinctive wit and ferocious energy, \u003cem\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/em\u003e is about fat—an issue both social and excruciatingly personal. It asks just how much we'll sacrifice to rescue single members of our families, and whether it's ever possible to save loved ones from themselves.\u003c\/p\u003e | \u003cp\u003e“\u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e is vintage Shriver - observant, unsettling, funny, but also, as Pandora admits, ‘Very, very sad.’” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMiami Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“As a writer, Shriver’s talents are many: She’s especially skilled at playing with readers’s reflexes for sympathy and revulsion, never letting us get too comfortable with whatever firm understanding we think we have of a character.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWashington Post\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The diet - the story of a heroically undertaken significant change - is pretty nearly irresistible. But what really powers this story, an outsize look at the most basic of human activities, eating, is a search for the definition, and appreciation, of ‘ordinary life.’” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMinneapolis Star Tribune\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver is brilliant on the novel shock that is hunger. . . . Most of all, though, there’s her glorious, fearless, almost fanatically hard-working prose.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGuardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver is wonderful at the things she is always wonderful at. Pace and plot. . . . Psychology.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eIndependent\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Her [Shriver’s] best work--\u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e is her twelfth novel--presents characters so fully formed that they inhabit her ideas rather than trumpet them.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew Republic\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“(A) delicious, highly readable novel . . . (which) raises challenging questions about how much a loving person can give to another without sacrificing his or her own well-being.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePeople, People Pick (4 Stars)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A searing, addictive novel about the power and limitations of food, family, success, and desire. Shriver examines America’s weight obsession with both razor-sharp insight and compassion.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eJ. Courtney Sullivan, author of Maine and Commencement\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The ever-caustic Shriver has great fun at the expense of crash diets and a host of other sacred pop-culture, er, cows. Politically correct it’s not, but \u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e finds the funny - and the pathos - in fat.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eUSA Today\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Would I recommend \u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e? Absolutely. It confronts the touchy subject of American lard exuberantly and intelligently; it makes you think about what you put in your mouth and why.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBloomberg\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Pandora is a masterly creation.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The latest compelling, humane and bleakly comic novel from the author of \u003ci\u003eWe Need to Talk about Kevin\u003c\/i\u003e.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eEvening Standard (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A gutsy, heartfelt novel” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSunday Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A surprising sledgehammer of a novel” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Times (London)\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“[Shriver] has a knack for conveying subtle shifts in family dynamics. . . . Ms Shriver offers some sage observations. . . . Yet her main gift as a novelist is a talent for coolly nailing down uncomfortable realities.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Economist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Lionel Shriver’s \u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e has the muscle to overpower its readers. It is a conversation piece of impressive heft.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“A great plot setup that presents an array of targets for Shriver to obliterate with her knife-sharp prose.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Rumpus\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The moving (and shocking) finale will have you thinking about the ‘byzantine emotional mathematics’ we all put ourselves through when overwhelmed with family responsibilities.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eOprah.com\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“The fellowship of Lionel Shriver fanatics is about to grow larger, so to speak. \u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e, a tragicomic meditation on family and food, may be her best book yet.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eGary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“An intelligent meditation on food, guilt, and the real (and imagined) debts we owe the ones we love.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Shriver brilliantly explores the strength of sibling bonds versus the often more fragile ties of marriage.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooklist\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“What would you do for love of a brother? For love of a husband? For love of food?  In \u003ci\u003eBig Brother\u003c\/i\u003e, Shriver’s new and wonderfully timely novel, her heroine wrestles with these vexing questions.  Only the scales don’t lie.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eMargot Livesey, author of The Flight of Gemma Hardy\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e“Brilliantly imagined, beautifully written, and superbly entertaining, Shriver’s novel confronts readers with the decisive question: can we save our loved ones from themselves? A must-read for Shriver fans, this novel will win over new readers as well.” - \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLibrary Journal\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Harper","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44888619581669,"sku":"NP9780061458576","price":26.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780061458576.jpg?v=1730229458","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/big-brother-a-novel-isbn-9780061458576","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}