The Altruists: A Novel

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Synopsis
"With humor and warmth, Ridker explores the meaning of family and its inevitable baggage. The Altruists may not paint the prettiest picture, but it's a relatable, unforgettable view of regular people making mistakes and somehow finding their way back to each other." --People magazine's "Book of the Week""Super brilliant, super funny."--Gary Shteyngart, author of Super Sad True Love Story and Lake SuccessNamed a Most Anticipated Book of 2019 by The Millions and PureWowA vibrant and perceptive novel about a father's plot to win back his children's inheritanceArthur Alter is in trouble. A middling professor at a Midwestern college, he can't afford his mortgage, he's exasperated his much-younger girlfriend, and his kids won't speak to him. And then there's the money--the small fortune his late wife, Francine, kept secret, which she bequeathed directly to his children.Those children are Ethan, an anxious recluse living off his mother's money on a choice plot of Brooklyn real estate, and Maggie, a would-be do-gooder trying to fashion herself a noble life of self-imposed poverty. On the verge of losing the family home, Arthur invites his children back to St. Louis under the guise of a reconciliation. But in doing so, he unwittingly unleashes a Pandora's box of age-old resentments and long-buried memories--memories that orbit Francine, the matriarch whose life may hold the key to keeping them together.Spanning New York, Paris, Boston, St. Louis, and a small desert outpost in Zimbabwe, The Altruists is a darkly funny (and ultimately tender) family saga that confronts the divide between baby boomers and their millennial offspring. It's a novel about money, privilege, politics, campus culture, dating, talk therapy, rural sanitation, infidelity, kink, the American beer industry, and what it means to be a "good person."
Copyright:
2019

Book Details

Book Quality:
Publisher Quality
ISBN-13:
9780525522720
Related ISBNs:
9780525522713
Publisher:
Penguin Publishing Group
Date of Addition:
Copyrighted By:
Andrew Ridker
Adult content:
No
Language:
English
Has Image Descriptions:
No
Categories:
Literature and Fiction, Parenting and Family, Religion and Spirituality
Submitted By:
Bookshare Staff
Usage Restrictions:
This is a copyrighted book.

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