What a horrible, wonderful book. A must-read for anyone who can stand the grim events, such as cancer, debilitating disease, humiliation, suicide, botched penile enlargement surgery, and Schopenhauer-like brilliant misanthropic fatalistic pessimism.

Guy wants to earn enough to retire early to a life of idleness on a desert isle. Shriver's ultra-intelligent, insightful contrarian prose makes it all worthwhile, if not pleasurable every single minute.

Hang in there for a drastic change in tone in the extended "happy" ending. Though she doesn't do happy nearly as well as desperate, the long-awaited payoff is a relief and reasonably satisfying.