The Slip
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- $11.99
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- $11.99
Publisher Description
In this wickedly funny novel, one bad afternoon and two regrettable comments make the inimitable Philip Sharpe go viral for all the worst reasons.
Dr. Philip Sharpe, absent-minded professor extraordinaire, teaches philosophy at the University of Toronto and is one of Canada’s most combative public intellectuals. But when a live TV debate with his fiercest rival goes horribly off the rails, an oblivious Philip says some things to her that he really shouldn’t have.
As a clip of Philip’s “slip” goes viral, it soon reveals all the cracks and fissures in his marriage with his young, stay-at-home wife, Grace. And while the two of them try to get on the same side of the situation, things quickly spiral out of control.
Can Philip make amends and save his marriage? Is there any hope of salvaging his reputation? To do so, he’ll need to take a hard look at his on-air comments, and to conscript a band of misfits in a scheme to set things right.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Early in the riotous but astute third novel by Sampson (Sad Peninsula), readers will see that renowned philosophy professor and public intellectual Philip Sharpe is about to take a tumble; it's just a question of how far he will fall and whether he will be able to get back up. Philip has admirable traits, including having attained an Oxford education in spite of an impoverished childhood, but he nevertheless comes across as neglectful husband and an impatient, pompous know-it-all. A televised debate against a "grotesquely conservative" newspaper columnist degenerates into sniping, and he insults his opponent. Social media explodes with criticism and threats directed at Philip, and the next week gives him ample cause to double-fist his cocktails. In addition to stretches of expertly timed hilarity, including a hellish brunch, the author examines an assortment of contemporary issues, such as the gendered division of household labor, everyday sexism, volatile university politics, social media crucifixions, and political correctness. Sampson's gift to his protagonist is not judging the 49-year-old "compulsively type A" prof as a hopeless jerk. Like Robertson Davies, he grants him the ability to direct his prodigious intellect inward, with satisfying results.
