The American Dream has always been elusive, but today you’d better make sure it includes health insurance. So Much For That (Harper Perennial, $14.99), Lionel Shriver’s sharp, direct novel about making a million and watching it evaporate, chronicles the fortunes of Shep Knacker, a successful entrepreneur who sells his business and plans to live on the proceeds in some idyllic—and cheap—exotic locale. While he dreams of the future, his wife develops cancer, and suddenly the nest egg is needed for health-care expenses. But, this being America, there are other ways to make money, and the Knackers bring a suit against Glynis’s former employer, claiming negligence with toxic materials caused her illness. No matter what their plight, Shriver’s characters are consistently lively and outspoken, cracking jokes, however dark, when you least expect them. They say things the rest of us only wish we could say—and they get away with it.
