Small but fine ... Gift edition in a small format, printed in full cloth with a ribbon marker. "What is all this fuss about death, anyway?" asks Julian Barnes' mother soberly. But her son often can't sleep because of it: "I explained to her that the thought of it simply repulses me." And so he tells the anecdote-rich story of the life and death of the very British and buttoned-up Barnes family. However, the author's true relatives are writers and composers like Stendhal, Flaubert, and Stravinsky. Brilliant, witty, and clever as always, Julian Barnes engages with a topic that affects everyone throughout their lives.