The Full Ridiculous
Mark Lamprell, 2014
Soft Skull
240 pp.
ISBN-13: 9781619022959
Summary
Michael O’Dell is hit by a car, and when he doesn’t die, he is surprised and pleased.
But what should have been a catalyst for a new lease on life turns into a dance with the black dog: depression. Post-accident, Michael can’t concentrate, control his anger and grief, or work out what to do about much of anything. His professional life begins to crumble, and although his wife, Wendy, is heroically supportive, his teenage children only exacerbate his post-accident angst.
His daughter Rosie punches out a vindictive schoolmate, plunging the family into a special parent-teacher hell. Meanwhile, his son Declan is found with a stash of illicit drugs, and a strange policeman starts harassing the family, causing ordinary mishaps to take on a sinister desperation.
Equal parts hilarious and painful, this compelling novel delves into the difficulties of family, marriage, and the precarious business of being a man. Mark Lamprell’s pithy and poignant debut novel examines the terrible truth: sometimes you can’t pull yourself together until you’ve completely fallen apart.
Author Bio
• Birth—September 26, 1958
• Where—Sydney, Australia
• Education—B.A., Macquarie University, New South Wales, Aus.
• Currently—Rome, Italy (soon to be Sydney, Australia)
(From the author.)
Book Reviews
[Lamprell] delivers a comic novel that is smoothly executed and full of minor pleasures.
Toronto Star
Screen writer Lamprell debuts with a first-rate novel told almost exclusively in the second person. It begins with Michael O’Dell being hit by a car, an accident that sets off a yearlong descent into an "Alice-less Wonderland" of personal and familial trouble. […] As Michael and his family work to resolve their crises, Lamprell manages to temper sentimentalism with a tonic wryness.
Publishers Weekly
The Full Ridiculous will appeal to readers of quirky, contemporary fiction such as The Rosie Project and The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time. It reminds us that sometimes, to really appreciate the beautiful highs of life, you need to hit rock bottom first.
Bookseller & Publisher
Discussion Questions
1. How does this depiction of modern society reflect your own experience? What are the similarities and differences?
2. Discuss the different descriptions of depression in the book. For example: "a winter that began in summer and lasted one whole year," or "despair descends and paralyses you ... like a chemical wash."
3. Michael is aware that other people are worse off than him. Should we compare our own difficulties to those of others?
4. The narrator tells us that the best entry point into the story is Rosie’s altercation with Eva. But the actual book starts with the car accident. And Michael comes to realise that his feelings of abandonment stem from his adoption at birth. Do the different possible beginnings mirror the different possible causes for Michael’s depression?
5. How much of Michael’s self-loathing stems from his inability to fulfill traditionally masculine roles, especially as breadwinner?
6. Discuss some of the other males in the novel and the alternative models of masculinity they exemplify (for example, George Pessites, Rat-tat-tat, Declan). What about the character Michael often contemplates—Zorba?
7. "So this perfect little person has arrived and now we get to fuck him up," Wendy says after Declan is born. Is it possible to be a parent without fucking up your children?
8. "You are no longer big, strong dependable Daddy. Daddy who puts a roof over our heads and brings home money for food and clothes. Daddy who fixes things and makes things better. Daddy who knows best" (120). What does the novel say about the importance of traditional models of fatherhood?
(Questions courtesy of the author.)