Nick Hornby rocks his literary in A LONG WAY DOWN. The theme is suicide and the characters are amazing. Four characters, written from all of their prospectives, accidentally meet each other when they're all about to jump off of a building that's a popular suicide spot in London.

Page 9:

...Surely the coroner's report should read, "He took his own life after sober and careful contemplation of the fucking shambles it had become."

Not once did i read a newspaper report that convince me that the deceased was off the old trolley. You know: "The Manchester United forward, who was engaged to the current MIss Sweden, had recently achieved a unique Double: He is the only man ever to have won the FA Cup and an Oscar for Best Actor in the same year. The rights to his first novel had just been bought for an undisclosed sum by Steven Spielberg. He was found hanging from a beam in his stables by a member of his staff." Now, I've never seen a coroner's report like that, but if there were cases in which happy, successful, talented people took their own lives, one could safely come to the conclusion that the old balance was indeed wonky. And I'm not saying that being engaged to Miss Sweden, playing for Manchester United, and winner Oscars inoculates you against depression--I'm sure it doesn't. I'm just saying that these things help. Look at the statistics. You're more likely to top yourself if you've just gone through a divorce. Or if you're anorexic. Or if you're unemployed. Or if you're a prostitute. Or if you've fought in a ware, or if you've been raped, or if you've lost somebody......"

The subject matter may be dim, but A LONG WAY DOWN is a fun read.
 

Literary love,

Tony DuShane