The Mandibles

Resumen del libro

The brilliant new novel from the Orange Prize-winning author of We Need to Talk about Kevin centres on three generations of The Mandible family as a fiscal crisis hits a near-future AmericaIt is 2029.The Mandibles have been counting on a sizable fortune filtering down when their 97-year-old patriarch dies. Yet America's soaring national debt has grown so enormous that it can never be repaid. Under siege from an upstart international currency, the dollar is in meltdown.

A bloodless world war will wipe out the savings of millions of American families.Their inheritance turned to ash, each family member must contend with disappointment, but also - as the effects of the downturn start to hit - the challenge of sheer survival.Recently affluent Avery is petulant that she can't buy olive oil, while her sister Florence is forced to absorb strays into her increasingly cramped household. As their father Carter fumes at having to care for his demented stepmother now that a nursing home is too expensive, his sister Nollie, an expat author, returns from abroad at 73 to a country that's unrecognizable.Perhaps only Florence's oddball teenage son Willing, an economics autodidact, can save this formerly august American family from the streets.This is not science fiction. This is a frightening, fascinating, scabrously funny glimpse into the decline that may await the United States all too soon, from the pen of perhaps the most consistently perceptive and topical author of our times.

Biografía del autor

x{0026}lt;p x{0026}lt;strong Lionel Shriver x{0026}lt;/strong (Gastonia, Carolina del Norte, 1957) es periodista y escritora. En 2005, con varias novelas en su haber, recibió el prestigioso Women's Prize for Fiction por x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Tenemos que hablar de Kevinx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong , un superventas que la consagró definitivamente en el panorama literario internacional: Pocas veces un libro ha explorado con tal sutileza y complejidad esa tenebrosa sustancia que une a una madre y a su hijo (Véronique Rossignol, x{0026}lt;em Livres Hebdox{0026}lt;/em ). Además de esta, Anagrama ha publicado sus siguientes novelas: x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em El mundo despuésx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em del cumpleañosx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong : Compleja y atrevida, la inteligente meditación de Shriver fascinará a cualquiera que se haya preguntado alguna vez qué habría pasado si hubiera seguido, o ignorado, uno de esos impulsos que cambian la vida (Francine Prose, x{0026}lt;em Peoplex{0026}lt;/em ); x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Todo esto para quéx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong : Lionel Shriver no escribe, construye bombas (Laura Fernández, x{0026}lt;em El Mundox{0026}lt;/em ); x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Big Brotherx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong : La lucidez de Lionel Shriver nos da siempre un merecido y a ratos hilarante bofetón. Nos mantiene despiertos (Marta Sanz, x{0026}lt;em El Confidencialx{0026}lt;/em ); x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Los Mandiblex{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong : La autoconsciente brillantez de sus diálogos y el satírico aliento de su prosa se conjuran, como en las mejores novelas de Jonathan Franzen o Jeffrey Eugenides, a favor de sus personajes, que siempre resultan cercanos (Sergi Sánchez, x{0026}lt;em El Periódicox{0026}lt;/em ); x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em Propiedadx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em privadax{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong : Shriver en la cúspide de su talento (x{0026}lt;em Financialx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;em Timesx{0026}lt;/em ), y x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em El movimiento del cuerpo a través delx{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong x{0026}lt;strong x{0026}lt;em espaciox{0026}lt;/em x{0026}lt;/strong : Un bilioso retrato de los adictos al fitnessx{0026} x02026; Pocos autores pueden ser tan entretenidamente problemáticos como Shriver (Alfred Hickling, x{0026}lt;em The Guardianx{0026}lt;/em ).x{0026}lt;/p