Millington, Mil: Love and Other Near Death Experiences

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Rob Garland is a nearly married, thirty-one year old late-night radio jazz presenter. He's also one of those people who have nearly died, a lucky survivor—the sort who escapes a fiery car crash because he's worn the wrong shoes or just missed a fatal flight because he stopped to buy a taco. Which is great, of course, but cheating death like that also has its down sides. The experience has left Rob paralyzed—sometimes literally—when it comes to making smallish decisions, like choosing which pair of socks to put on: that decision, he would argue, is a potentially life-altering one given all the variables involved—how long they take to put on or how slippery they render your feet or whether one pair is more likely than another to spring a hole and whether a hole might wind up resulting in death or injury or saving one from same. There's just no telling which seemingly innocuous choice is going to leave you dead. This is of course no way to live, and going off on an ill-defined quest seems to Rob just the thing to knock himself back into shape. He sets off accompanied by his own squire cum bodyguard, an American ex-GI who's appointed himself as Rob's protector, and he finds along the way something he didn't even know he was looking for. The story Millington tells is amusing enough, but what makes it sparkle is the author's extremely funny, clever, very British dialogue. The book is dialogue-heavy, so there's something funny in pretty much every paragraph. The book is recommended, but if you haven't read the author before I'd recommend you start with his Things My Girlfriend and I Have Argued About (my review), because it's simply one of the best books ever.

Comments

[Clare D]

1.

Glad to hear there's another one from Millington in the world!

[Debra Hamel]

2.

Yup. There's another one called A Certain Chemistry, too.