A Calling For Charlie Barnes by Joshua Ferris

fronts. He has five marriages, is a college drop out; he has been unable to stay with any employer or profession for any length of time and he is unable to tell the truth about almost any aspect of his life, even to his wives and children. The story opens where he is briefly convinced that he pancreatic cancer, and he immediately calls all his relatives to inform them, even before he has meet with a doctor to discuss it. Through that we learn that he has been convinced he had cancer a number of times before, and they all treat him a bit like Peter and the Wolf, which is indeed the case at least briefly. The ins and outs of navigating the end of life when you have spent the beginning and middle screwing many things up is at once sobering and amusing, and ultimately leaves you thinking.