5ive Speed - A Novel

It isn't until Donald Roth meets his son's future in-laws that he realizes he is tired of a three-speed life. Time to move up. When Donald was a kid in the late 60's on the South Side of Chicago, he had a Schwinn Sting Ray bike. Everyone did. But everyone else had a five-speed. Donald's was a three-speed. It was good enough, as was explained by his parents, just as their Ford Maverick wasn't the neighbor's Le Mans, but it was good enough. And that's the way Donald was taught to live his life. It was a three-speed life. It was good enough. He marries Emily because she's good enough. Emily marries Donald because that's what she had planned, and she is not going to experience divorce as did her parents. Donald opens a law practice with his two best friends and roommates from college because it's good enough. Then the Roths meet their son's future in-laws and everything changes. Donald wonders if, in fact, he could get that five-speed. In this hilarious, sensitive, and fast paced story, perception is everything. Readers of Richard Russo, Jonathan Franzen, and Nick Hornby are going to love this book.