num_pages: 295
description: Four men gather in a London pub. They have taken it upon themselves to carry out the last orders of Jack Dodds, master butcher, and deliver his ashes to the sea. As they drive towards the fulfillment of their mission, their errand becomes an extraordinary journey into their collective and individual pasts. Braiding these men's voices, and that of Jack's widow, into a choir of sorrow and resentment, passion and regret, Swift creates a testament to a changing England and to enduring mortalitySwift has involved us in real, lived lives...Quietly, but with conviction, he seeks to affirm the values of decency, loyalty, love.--New York Review of BooksA beautiful book...a novel that speaks profoundly of human need and tenderness. Even the most cynical will be warmed by it.--San Francisco Chronicle
language: English
title: Last Orders
titlecomplete: Last Orders
genres: Fiction, Death, British Literature, Literature, Novels, Contemporary, College, Modern, 20th Century, Literary Fiction
ratings_count: 13915
awards: awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Booker Prize, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: James Tait Black Memorial Prize
category: Fiction, awardedAt: 820483200000
name: Whitbread Award
category: Novel, awardedAt: 883641600000
name: Dublin Literary Award
category: Shortlist
publisher: Knopf