{"product_id":"in-the-drivers-seat-helen-simpson-9780307277565","title":"In the Driver's Seat","description":"A dark, dazzling, surprisingly funny new collection of stories (\"Masterly\" --Adam Mars Jones, \u003ci\u003eThe Observer\u003c\/i\u003e; \"A virtuoso performance\" --Jane Shilling, \u003ci\u003eThe Sunday Telegraph\u003c\/i\u003e) about single women and wives in various phases of midlife--anxious mothers, besotted mothers, beset mothers--in a (futile) search for security and consolation. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHelen Simpson's stories are short but by no means small. One story takes the Iraq war as its subject; another describes a smoker's reprieve from death by lung cancer; in another, a simple tale of home maintenance--a woman in a conversation with the carpenter replacing her door after a break-in--becomes a deftly sketched study of grief. In still another, Simpson manages the seemingly impossible--producing laughter at terminal illness and untimely death (this might be the first story in which the amputation of a limb provides a happy ending). And finally, the story entitled \"Constitutional\"--a pun on one of the word's meanings: a walk taken for the benefit of one's health--deals with memory, family, Alzheimer's, oak trees, pregnancy for the over-forties, stolen photographs, and crossword puzzles. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eHelen Simpson's stories move and disturb us as they light up the human gift for making the best of it--\u003ci\u003ewhatever\u003c\/i\u003e it is.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Helen Simpson\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-10:\u003c\/b\u003e 0307277569\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN-13:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780307277565\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Vintage\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eLanguage:\u003c\/b\u003e English\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 05\/06\/2008\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 192\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eFormat:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 0.47lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.00h x 5.18w x 0.62d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eReview Citation(s): \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e 06\/15\/2008 pg. 24","brand":"Helen Simpson","offers":[{"title":"Paperback","offer_id":46135986389247,"sku":"9780307277565","price":13.95,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0662\/2982\/9887\/files\/img_6c61a01a-37d0-43dc-97ec-96b62c55d97a.jpg?v=1726415344","url":"https:\/\/www.whiterainbookhouse.com\/products\/in-the-drivers-seat-helen-simpson-9780307277565","provider":"WR Book House","version":"1.0","type":"link"}