In a novel at once eccentric, dark and achingly funny - an old man reflects upon his life, his marriage, friendships, love affairs, and the enragingly separate existence of his spoiled, and lost, only son. He has had a full life, and now, in his later years, retired, his second wife getting on his nerves, love affairs a distant memory, he has a few things to get off his chest...Yasmina Reza has written a novel in defence of a life lived passionately, not passively. It is a genuine tour de force.