& Sons

& Sons (2013) by David Gilbert. & Sons is a brilliant novel which contains a joke in its title. The central character of the book, A. N. Dyer, is a famous author, one of whose books is titled Ampersand. The book begins with the funeral of one of Dyer's oldest and best friends, Charles Topping, and in fact the book is told from the first-person omniscient point of view by Charles' son Philip. It's a strange point of view to tell a story from, and it makes the novel a bit hard to follow at first. But once you get into the rhythm of it, it becomes a delight to read, with Dyer's sons Richard, Jamie and Andy alternating as the characters who come to the fore in the narrative. I would not rank this as one of the best books I've ever read, but it is certainly very good. Grade: A-