Seize the Day

Fading charmer, Tommy Wilhelm has reached his day of reckoning and is scared. In his forties, he still retains a boyish impetuousness that has brought him to the brink of chaos: he is separated from his wife and children, at odds with his vain, successful father, failed in his acting career, and in a financial mess.

Just as reading it the first time, the second time I read this novel it grabbed me by the throat again. The main character Wilhelm is unlucky in his working life, and tries to get by with some dubious financial transactions. When he is in financial dire straits again, he approaches his wealthy father who shows him "tough love": he will give him no money, for "his own benefit". Financial ruin looms, his options disappear one by one, and he is trapped in the corner of the room that is his miserable life.
Other Titles:
A Theft (1989)
The Actual (1997)
Ravelstein (2000) read more