David Gilbert Libri

The Manhattan funeral of Charles Henry Topping would have been a minor affair but for the identity of the eulogist: reclusive author A.N. Dyer, whose novel 'Ampersand' stands as a classic of teenage angst. Now Andrew Newbold Dyer takes stock of his own life, the people he's hurt and the novel that will endure as his legacy. He realises he must reunite with his three sons before it's too late. It is only when the hidden purpose of the reunion comes to light do the sons realise what's at stake - for their father, themselves and three generations of Dyers.

His classmates make millions on Wall Street and the Internet while Billy makes do with a series of temp jobs. He has a girlfriend, Sally Hu, but they're a couple by default. Then Billy receives a letter from a collection agency seeking satisfaction on three years of unpaid student loans. Death is mentioned as an alternative to payment. Now every passer-by is a potential hit-man, and Billy has to flee. Providence delivers Hargrove Anderson Medical, a pharmaceutical company looking for perfectly healthy 'normals' to participate in Phase I studies of their latest experimental drugs. So Billy signs up for a fourteen-day trial of a new atypical antipsychotic for the treatment of schizophrenia...Through the sharp-eyed, self-doubting Billy, David Gilbert exposes the crisis of the contemporary human condition: how to connect? As funny as it is profound, The Normals is a tour de force.