This book got panned by some of the critics but they were off the mark. A great read and a clever concept. Coe's problem is that everything he ever writes will be compared to the genius of "The Rotters Club" and "Closed Circle".

The Terrible Privacy of Maxwell Sim by Jonathan Coe deals with a modern paradox: as Max himself put it we are at "…..a time when people seemed to be losing the ability to connect with one another, even as technology created more and more ways in which it ought to be possible". Max is a 48 year-old man, a not too-successful salesman, with lots of friends on Facebook, who, in reality, is completely alone. His mother died while he was quite young; his father to whom he was not close left for Australia shortly after; his wife left him, and he has lost touch with most of his friends. Any of his attempts to form an alliance with another human being fail. On the flight home from Australia where he tried to bridge the gap with his father, he tries to engage his seat mate in conversation only to be told by the flight attendant that the man has suffered a heart attack and died. His only remaining friend, Trevor, offers him the opportunity to make some money by taking a load of sample toothbrushes to the northernmost point in Scotland as a promotional gimmick. Max sets out intending to visit his estranged wife and daughter and some of the people from his past on the way. Flashbacks describe some of the past incidents that lead to his alienation. Failing to form relationships with real people, in desperation, Maxwell seems to fall in love with the voice on the SatNav, his only constant companion. The book is not as glum as it seems. Jonathan Coe has a keen sense of humour and many of the passages are quite funny. The ending is also not what one would expect. With its many threads and very contemporary issues, I feel this book would be particularly good for discussion by a book club.

I found the overall concept of this book intriguing, and the title funny enough to pick up. However, I was quite disappointed. It has its moments of being witty but a lot of the parts were a bit cumbersome to drudge through, and the ending was completely unsatisfying. Worst ending I've encountered recently! What you see is definitely not what you get. Sadly.

The book started a little bit slowly, but became a page-turner once it got going. Witty and a tad surreal. Fans of British humour will definitely enjoy this book.

"Coe’s satire pierces less than his compassion, and Sim, for all his shortcomings, increasingly gains our sympathy, if not our affection. By the novel’s end, Sim has discovered that there is more of his father – and his father’s hidden self – in him than he ever dared acknowledge before. Embracing that knowledge, and acting on it, as he is enabled (a little too neatly) to do, will be what saves him, Coe suggests. Then, in the final chapter, he throws us a metafictional curveball in the form of authorial intervention that will leave your jaw hanging. I leave it to you to determine whether it’s with appreciation or disbelief." Reviewed by Kathleen Byrne in the Globe & Mail March 28, 2011