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Normals by David Gilbert
Book Summary InformationAuthor: David Gilbert Edition: Paperback Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published) Published: 2005-03-17 ISBN: 0571196543 Number of pages: 256 Publisher: Faber & Faber
Book Reviews of NormalsBook Review: superb reading experience;thank you Mr Gilbert! Summary: 5 Stars
He is one of my new favorite writers..love his style..so brilliant at articulating both his internal and external worlds in so entertaining and perceptive a fashion. His descriptions and metaphors demonstrate his uncanny awareness and ability to express what so many of us cannot. I don't even care about the subject matter; that's how much I enjoy reading his writing and can't wait for his next endeavour. I'm always so happy to discover the rare writer who is such a treat to read because he's unpredictable, witty, and relentlessly intelligent. It's disappointing to see how many don't appreciate this book in these reviews...perhaps it indicates a preference for the more commercial/typical novelists who are all so similar and lack Mr Gilbert's talent.
Summary of NormalsHis classmates make millions on Wall Street and the Internet while Billy makes do with a series of temp jobs. He has a girlfriend, Sally Hu, but they're a couple by default. Then Billy receives a letter from a collection agency seeking satisfaction on three years of unpaid student loans. Death is mentioned as an alternative to payment. Now every passer-by is a potential hit-man, and Billy has to flee. Providence delivers Hargrove Anderson Medical, a pharmaceutical company looking for perfectly healthy 'normals' to participate in Phase I studies of their latest experimental drugs. So Billy signs up for a fourteen-day trial of a new atypical antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia...Through the sharp-eyed, self-doubting Billy, David Gilbert exposes the crisis of the contemporary human condition: how to connect? As funny as it is profound, The Normals is a tour de force.
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