{"product_id":"better-book-john-o-brien-9781933354828","title":"Better","description":"\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riveting and sexually charged posthumous novel from the author of\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e Leaving Las Vegas\u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003e.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e \u003cp\u003e\"No contemporary novelist has plumbed so deeply into the human heart, and none has paid a steeper price for visiting those depths than John O'Brien. \u003ci\u003eBetter\u003c\/i\u003e shows us what America lost when the author of \u003ci\u003eLeaving Las Vegas\u003c\/i\u003e took his own life. Unflinching, dark-souled, cry-until-you-laugh authentic . . . each word of this novel burns as true and doomed as a lit match dropped in a shot of whiskey. John O'Brien was a writer who lived and died with every sentence. \u003ci\u003eBetter\u003c\/i\u003e is testament to the miracle of what the man accomplished--and what he might have accomplished had not death seemed like a better alternative. No one who reads this book will walk away unmoved.\" --Jerry Stahl, author of \u003ci\u003ePermanent Midnight\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003ePain Killers\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWithin the walls of a foreboding mansion situated in the hills overlooking Los Angeles, the suave Double Felix plays host to an array of beautiful women as well as his unlikely sidekick William. The mysterious patriarch grants his live-in guests' every wish while asking nothing in return. Days begin with William and Double Felix discussing their conquests with the ladies over Morning Vodka, a ritual that is nonetheless edged in homoerotic tension. From there the drinking continues, only to be interrupted by some miscellany--perhaps a rerun of \u003ci\u003eThe Love Boat\u003c\/i\u003e or some casual sex.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eBut the ongoing torpor has been upset by the house's newest arrival, a stunning young woman named Laurie, with whom both Double Felix and William become hopelessly smitten. Trash-talking Maggie and Zipper, the hooker who flew in on a trick and never left, smolder with envy while Laurie garners more and more attention from the men.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eAs tensions spiral out of control, the house--an almost anthropomorphic entity in itself--ejects some of its denizens while further ensnaring others. Eventually, each faces the same ultimatum: leave or stay. The decision is fraught with consequence.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eBetter\u003c\/i\u003e delves deep into the psyche of its subjects through an intricate web of cultural icons, loyalty, covert communications, and sex. O'Brien's characters loom in and out of a surreal world that seems to float high above the rest of us, but is in fact firmly tethered to the human condition.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"WoB","offers":[{"title":"GB \/ LIKE_NEW \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":49578224091409,"sku":"GOR013601329","price":4.5,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"GB \/ WELL_READ \/ INTERNAL","offer_id":50933305573649,"sku":"GOR014130701","price":9.7,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ WELL_READ \/ SBYB","offer_id":51330973204753,"sku":"CIN1933354828A","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ VERY_GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":51715145728273,"sku":"CIN1933354828VG","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false},{"title":"US \/ GOOD \/ SBYB","offer_id":52107818696977,"sku":"CIN1933354828G","price":0.0,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0784\/4072\/6801\/files\/1933354828.jpg?v=1751453490","url":"https:\/\/www.worldofbooks.com\/en-gb\/products\/better-book-john-o-brien-9781933354828","provider":"World of Books ","version":"1.0","type":"link"}