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Planet Reese
Reese Larkin is desperate to find the perfect mattress. His job is in jeopardy and he's been forced to separate from his wife and children, but he believes that if he can find the ultimate sleep system his life will begin anew.
In her seventh novel, Cordelia Strube grabs readers by the neuroses with a dark but wickedly fun story about a former Greenpeace activist forced to turn marketeer who battles against a world in which he is confronted by shift mattress sales clerks, a Fred and Ginger-obsessed strip-bar waitress, derisive colleagues, and a wife who has mysteriously turned cold and is keeping his children from him. Alone in his damp basement apartment with his daughter's hamster, he longs for a good night's sleep and, though faced with despair, begins each day hopefully as he grips tighter to the edges of his life.
Engaging, enlightening, and always entertaining, Planet Reese is an intensely personal and endearing tale of a man holding on to his sanity against all odds in an increasingly unhinged world.
In her seventh novel, Cordelia Strube grabs readers by the neuroses with a dark but wickedly fun story about a former Greenpeace activist forced to turn marketeer who battles against a world in which he is confronted by shift mattress sales clerks, a Fred and Ginger-obsessed strip-bar waitress, derisive colleagues, and a wife who has mysteriously turned cold and is keeping his children from him. Alone in his damp basement apartment with his daughter's hamster, he longs for a good night's sleep and, though faced with despair, begins each day hopefully as he grips tighter to the edges of his life.
Engaging, enlightening, and always entertaining, Planet Reese is an intensely personal and endearing tale of a man holding on to his sanity against all odds in an increasingly unhinged world.
- GenresCanada
352 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2007
23 people want to read
About the author
Cordelia Strube
16 books63 followersRead an interview and an excerpt of Cordelia's new novel, On the Shores of Darkness, There Is Light, in Numéro Cinq Magazine: http://goo.gl/9KOheD
Watch a video of Cordelia interacting with students at York University's Canadian Writers in Person here: https://youtu.be/7548Yv5E5qI
Cordelia Strube is an accomplished playwright and the author of nine critically acclaimed novels, including Alex & Zee, Teaching Pigs to Sing, and Lemon. Winner of the CBC literary competition and a Toronto Arts Foundation Award, she has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award, the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Prix Italia, and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Strube is a two-time finalist for ACTRA’s Nellie Award celebrating excellence in Canadian broadcasting and a three-time nominee for the ReLit Award. She lives in Toronto.
Watch a video of Cordelia interacting with students at York University's Canadian Writers in Person here: https://youtu.be/7548Yv5E5qI
Cordelia Strube is an accomplished playwright and the author of nine critically acclaimed novels, including Alex & Zee, Teaching Pigs to Sing, and Lemon. Winner of the CBC literary competition and a Toronto Arts Foundation Award, she has been nominated for the Governor General’s Award, the Trillium Book Award, the WH Smith/Books in Canada First Novel Award, and the Prix Italia, and longlisted for the Scotiabank Giller Prize. Strube is a two-time finalist for ACTRA’s Nellie Award celebrating excellence in Canadian broadcasting and a three-time nominee for the ReLit Award. She lives in Toronto.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 20, 2014
Typical of Strube, the main character is a lost soul dealing with personal issues juxtaposed with social, ethical, and environmental commentary forcing the reader into personal introspection. However, I think the story could have been told in less time. How many times is it necessary to bring attention to Reese's plastic shoes and his search for a comfortable mattress? It doesn't take long for the reader to get the message.
February 13, 2011
While I loved my first Strube experience in reading "Lemon", I found "Planet Reese" quite disappointing in comparison. Strube's darkly comic writing was still entertaining, but the plot dragged for me and failed to hold my interest in the way that "Lemon" did.
December 14, 2009
Not one of my favourite books from Strube...
October 26, 2011
Very scattered thought process of the main character. Loved how he was a freak about all world destruction,
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews