Inconceivable - Softcover

Elton, Ben

3.58

5,104 ratings by Goodreads

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0385334656 ISBN 13: 9780385334655

Publisher: Dell Books, 2000

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The international bestseller that inspired the movie Maybe Baby.

Birds do it. Bees do it. Why can't Sam and Lucy?

When Lucy first suggested they make a baby, Sam was gung ho --after all, sleeping with his wife is one of Sam's favorite things to do. Then out came the thermometers, followed by the holistic home remedies -- not to mention some humiliating bouts with specimen jars. Soon Lucy's demands are driving Sam out of his mind. That is, until Sam conceives a plan of his own: He'll write a screenplay based on his and Lucy's poignant (and often uproarious) efforts to conceive a child. It could be a big hit. It might even make Sam's career. Or cost him his marriage . . .

From the award-winning author of Popcorn and Blast from the Past comes this hilarious and heartbreaking new novel --a provocative two-sided look at one couple's inconceivable dilemma. From sperm that swim backward to aromatherapy run amok, procreation for Lucy and Sam has turned into a grisly little war. But if Lucy feels barren as the Sahara, and Sam thinks his gay friends will be fathers before he is, they're about to have yet another problem on their hands: saving the love that once was everything they had. . . .

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Review:

Whenever Sam thinks about babies, he envisages rivers of vomit and sleepless nights. But wife Lucy can't walk past Mothercare without crying. What's more, she can't seem to conceive--not by traditional methods, anyway. Hippy confidante Drusilla suggests an array of New Age remedies, including the intimate use of nutmeg oil and al fresco lovemaking. As Lucy faces a possible verdict of infertility, her love for Sam enters tailspin, accelerated by the advent of arrogant actor Carl Phipps. Meanwhile Sam, desperate to escape his tedious BBC job, conceives the inconceivable--turning the intimacies of their battle for babies into an acclaimed movie script.

Inconceivable tells a poignant and heart-rending story with Elton's trademark wit, creating a novel that is entertaining and emotionally satisfying; as explosive as Popcorn and with the incendiary humour of Blast From the Past. It courageously tackles its central theme from both the male and the female points of view, and while delivering laughs on every page, it steers clear of laddish clich�s. Lucy's tale, though pregnant with unfulfilled emotion, never stints on humour. "There seem," she fumes, "to be more urban myths attached to infertility than there are to ... film stars filling their bottoms with small animals."

Aside from the rich vein of gags about DIY conception (Sam has to leave a power lunch with the excuse: "Sorry, my wife is ovulating ..."), Elton also subjects the TV industry to relentless stand-up-style bombardment, giving birth to some brilliant asides which enrich the main story but never overpower it. Funny, tragic, true and ultimately heart warming, this book should be available on the National Health Service. --Matthew Baylis

Review:

Praise for Blast From The Past:

‘Only Ben Elton could combine uncomfortable questions about gender politics wtih a gripping, page-turning narrative and jokes that make you laugh out loud.’
Tony Parsons

‘Elton at his most outrageously entertaining.’
Cosmopolitan

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