SHORT & SWEET REVIEW: TERMS & CONDITIONS

Note, the format of my Short and Sweet reviews differs in that they simply comprise the book blurb and a short response (hence, the short and sweet). Sometimes I have too many books to do a full-length review!

Terms & Conditions by Robert Glancy, Bloomsbury UK $29.99

Those who’ve already read this book will agree that Terms & Conditions is an unusual read. The blurb doesn’t really give it away … unless you count the asterisks … and the words “small print”.  Get used to  them!

Frank has been in a car accident*. The doctor tells him he lost his spleen, but Frank believes he has lost more. He is missing memories – of the people around him, of the history they share and of how he came to be in the crash. All he remembers is that he is a lawyer who specialises in small print. But when Oscar, his brother, takes the family company into business with an inventively cruel arms manufacturer** and Alice, his wife, starts to seem oddly unlike the woman he remembers, Frank’s world starts to unspool and the terms and conditions that he has lived his life by*** begin to change.

If you’re the kind of person who hates footnotes, then Terms & Conditions will drive you crazy. The book is full of them. If you’re the kind of person has nothing against footnotes, but you ignore them as a rule … don’t! Some of the funniest insights and explanations about Frank’s state of mind and history are hidden in these little gems – here, he shows his true colours (much like terms and conditions for those who ever read them). It is a little distracting at times when an asterisk pops up and then you scan down to the footnote, then back up again, so be prepared for that … read this when you’re alert. If you’re looking for an out-of-the-box, witty read, give this a go but remember:

1. Don’t ignore the footnotes.
2. Be an alert reader!