LITERATURE

From the acclaimed author of the New York Times bestselling novel The Post-Birthday World comes a searing, deeply humane new novel about the tragic costs of the American healthcare system. Shep Knacker discovered long ago that the same money that lasts one year in Westchester lasts 10 in the Developing World. That lesson has guided him towards fulfilling the dream of moving. Yet instead of Tanzania, Shep is stuck in New York, thanks to the foot-dragging of his wife, Glynis. With no exit date in sight, the 48-year-old Shep reluctantly returns to the company he founded as an employee. Angry and humiliated, he gives Glynis an ultimatum: he’s leaving for Tanzania, with or without her.

Glynis, too, has news: she has cancer. Shep cannot abandon her now; in addition to his love and support, she needs his health insurance. But this “health insurance company from hell” only partially covers the staggering bills, and suddenly this once well-off family is hurtling toward bankruptcy.

So Much for That takes a hard look at America’s healthcare “system,” and poses the disturbing moral question that affects more of us each day: How much is one life worth?