The Slap - Christos Tsiolkas

At a suburban barbecue one afternoon, a man slaps an unruly boy. The boy is not his son. It is a single act of violence, but this one slap reverberates through the lives of everyone who witnesses it happen.

Why Read - It looked interesting from the blurb so I asked a friend to pick it up from the library.

This is the one of the first books I didn't finish.  I read the first few chapters, read online reviews to see if other people felt the same as I did, then decided this book was not worth wasting my time on.  What a shame.

I knew not to expect much from the title and the blurb - that the slap was a minor event in the novel but does not really play a key role. But what i was not expecting was the adult content of this book, the vulgar nature and the crudeness of the book. Unnecessary language and crude sexual content made this book cringeworthy to read, and I'm not easily offended.  I am always weary of books that people say are the best book of the year, a must read. They obviously have no taste.

In my opinion don't bother with this book, its not worth the time or the energy.