A Week of This: A novel in seven days - Tapa dura

"With this debut novel, Whitlock demonstrates a keen insight into the hearts of those living lives of quiet desperation, and deeper, into the fundamental truths of the human soul." --Robert J. Wiersema, author, "Before I Wake"

""A Week of This" is like an HBO reality television series given a sturdy literary backbone, and [it] makes an ideal springtime read." --"Scene Magazine"

"Whitlock possesses a strong command of language and an easiness with metaphor; his characters are drawn evocatively, even when they act predictably." "--Booklist"

"A sympathetic and occasionally humorous portrait. . . . Recommended." "--Library Journal"

"For all of its kitchen-sink documentation of life among the endangered working class, sinking into tar pits of debt on easy credit . . . this is not a dull read. . . . The pace is well maintained and the days pass quickly. Not, however, without making a powerful impact." --"The Waterloo Region Record"

"Melancholy yet upbeat writing." --"The Toronto Star"

"[The] characters are individuals with beating hearts and wounded histories and sentimental hopes for the future. Before long, we sink unresistingly into their stories." --"Vancouver Sun"

"Whitlock's writing style--restrained, sympathetic but unsentimental, and grounded in sensory reality--is a perfect match for his story." "--Winnipeg Free Press"

"An impressive and unsparingly true-to-life creation." --"The Globe and Mail"

"A portrait of people in a small town so intimate that it feels like you are under the covers with them. Like Tom Perrotta's" Little Children", Whitlock examines the horror and grace of suburban life." --Heather O'Neill, author, "Lullabies for Little Criminals"

Brilliant, darkly comic, and startlingly honest, this novel follow the lives of an extended family over one increasingly desperate week. Manda is a 38-year-old, tough, sarcastic woman who has yet to make peace with the town she was brought to as a teenager after her parents' messy divorce in this novel full of barbed dialogue and hilarious, deadpan descriptions of family dynamics.