3 Dollars

by Elliot Perlman

Book Overview

The long-unavailable debut novel by the bestselling author of Seven Types of Ambiguity . From celebrated author Elliot Perlman, Three Dollars is the deft, passionate portrait of a man coming to terms... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1878448889
• ISBN13: 9781878448880
• Release Date: June 1999
• Publisher: MacAdam/Cage Publishing
• Length: 358 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.4" x 5.8" x 8.8"

Customer Reviews

Give it a go!

Not a very popular book it seems, but is definitely funny. I would recommend it to anyone who needs a laugh, or just to get an interesting perspective of middle class life today. A good, easy read!

A nice find

I just picked this book up in a bookstore in London, on the shelf of "staff picks" (which more and more, I am finding, can be a great source of referral). It is a charming book- I don't think any of the reviews so far have liked it as much as I did. In particular, the main character Eddie brings much as much insight and depth as humour to his rambling thoughts on how things ended up the way they did. His great love for his depressed wife and singing daughter is one common theme throughout the book...and one feels like a genuine portrait is drawn, of a chemical engineer who adheres to high moral standards (therefore loses his job) and loves too much but cannot find ways to express it. Yes there are lots of cliches and devises, people popping up like bad dreams, but its a story, right?

A Criticism of Capitalism

This novel highlights the flaws of capitalism.After reading this novel many will want to reflect on their own lives.

Love and economic rationalism

Perlman's firs novel has won him some prestigious prizes in Australia and deserves to win him fans internationally. While set in Melbourne, Three Dollars handles universal themes humourously and with compassion. While the subject matter is weighty, the book is never "heavy". One of the few novels around to tackle head-on the effects of the "MBA" culture upon relationships at the end of the 20th century.

A Moving and Witty Book from a Talented New Writer

I read this book in its Australian edition, and am glad it's finally out here in the States. Perlman is a marvelously smart and talented young writer, who is well-known in his native country. THREE DOLLARS, with its beautiful language and compelling plot, manages to be moving and witty at the same time. Though set in Melbourne, the characters and story are clearly universal in the post-Thatcherite/Reaganomic Western world. The implicit socio-economic commentary, however, is by no means heavy-handed or polemic; rather, it emerges only as you find yourself captivated by the life of Eddie, who's quite the appealing but troubled hero. Not only do you struggle with him through a tricky job-related moral dilemma, you also struggle with him in his challenging marriage to Tanya, a vibrant but depressed soul-mate. And isn't that what life is all about -- politics and love?! With a naturally humorous and undeniably clever voice, Perlman somehow keeps you laughing throughout the pain. It all builds to a wonderfully dramatic climax . . . If you like it as much as I did, you'll look forward to his next book, rumored to be an anthology of short stories.