Dinner with the Schnabels

Toni Jordan: Hachette, $33

Simon is a quirky, self-deprecating loser of a dad with a week to redeem himself in the eyes of his family. This is his story, told in the first person with a flavour of general bemusement. He loves his wife and family to distraction but has failed them. In a haze of introspection he stumbles haplessly through woke culture and his own good intentions. Jordan has a keen eye and an armoury of satirical darts when it comes to portraying modern intergenerational characteristics, from the blinkered self-satisfaction of young influencers to the oldies’ stubbornly held judgments. The reader vacillates between love and hate for poor Simon. Can he take a trick? No plot spoilers here; just laughs all the way. It is just a charmer of a book. SAMELA HARRIS hhhhj