The Error of Our Ways

Book excerpt: New York Times Notable Book: “The sorrows of Job [visit] a St. Louis nut salesman, with hilarious results . . . [A] wry updating of the biblical tragedy” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review). In this “astute, entertaining novel,” two very different men cross each other’s paths in St. Louis, Missouri (The New York Times). Ben Hudnut is an upper-middle-class entrepreneur determined to bring an affordable cashew to American consumers. When he isn’t pursuing this goal, he’s usually in the company of his wife and four daughters—occasionally joined for family dinner by his dull but devoted secretary. Jeremy Cook, meanwhile, is a cynical unemployed academic, a linguist who doesn’t know what to do with himself—until he’s pressured into studying Ben Hudnut’s baby girl and her unusual speech patterns. But as different as these two men are, they will soon have one thing in common, as both of their lives begin to fall apart around them . . . “A dark domestic comedy that traces the perils of middle-aged manhood, told with attentiveness to the subtleties of communication.” —The New York Times Book Review “Witty, good-natured, and completely convincing: Carkeet has managed, with sympathy and charm, to trace the exceptional adventures of an utterly ordinary man.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review) “A shrewd, wickedly funny delight, full of hilarious takes on rocky marriages, sexual boredom, raising kids, communication gaps—and nutty doings, as in almonds and cashews . . . A delectable observer of human foibles and pretense.” —Publishers Weekly (starred review)