Book of the Week: Apathy and Other Small Victories

Not only is this book a fun, short read that you can fit in between your Econometrics homework and your Nietzsche reading, but it is also probably one of the funniest books you will ever read in your life. The book first caught my eye with its morbid, but at the same time, hilarious cover as I was grazing the fiction section of Barnes and Noble. I read the first paragraph and was hooked. I found myself legitimately laughing out loud and you will too... in which case, it is probably not a good read for the library. Here is the plot summary from the book jacket:

"The only thing that Shane cares about is leaving. Usually on a Greyhound bus, right before his life falls apart again. Just like he planned. Except for this time, it's complicated: there's a sadistic corporate climber who think she's his girlfriend, a rent-subsidized affair with his landlord's wife, and the bizarrely appealing deaf assistant to Shane's cosmically unstable dentist.

"When one of the women is murdered and Shane is the only is the only suspect who doesn't care enough to act like he didn't do it, the question becomes just how he'll clear up the good name he never had and doesn't particularly want: his own."

About the author, Paul Neilan:

"Paul Neilan is working on getting fired from his mind-numbing job at an insurance company in Portland, Oregon, where he spends most of his time hiding in the bathroom and weeping. Born of this and many, many other humiliations, Apathy and Other Small Victories is his first novel."

Pick this book up anywhere you can find it. You won't be disappointed. Email me if you are interested in borrowing my copy, although I highly, highly recommend you pick this one up for yourself. It will be a great one to read to your kids and your grandkids.