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pills depression





The first oral contraceptive pill on the market there are many more high doses of hormones than prescribed weight today to receive the liquid and side effects related to retention two”’which-apparently retained. Average of 5 pounds of weight was estimated as a result of taking oral contraceptive pill. Studies have found that in general today, low-dose oral contraceptive pill do not cause weight gain.
Before going up and down with “Look at me, I Legacy 2 kg! In fact, that women who are vomiting pill really lost a lot of weight, as the others (which makes TL ‘get nauseous) experience. Nevertheless, there will always be women who have certain factors in their bodies that meet even the low dose pills, which can be attributed to weight gain when they are taking oral contraceptive pills.
One of the active components of oral contraceptive pill estrogen, which in large doses, is known to cause weight gain due to fluid retention. Water retention in turn leads to an increase in salt (sodium) storage. At low doses of pills today, this problem has been significantly reduced.
Do oral contraceptives increase the appetite?
They can, if they raise your insulin levels – known as insulin resistance.”Levels of insulin in response to increased carbohydrate and the driving energy in fat cells and essentially prevent weight loss, even in the plan, not all women are exposed to the “resistance” is not everything women receiving insulin, weight, when they take oral contraceptive pill. This condition”can be diagnosed by a doctor, if you did it cause your blood insulin, which will be constantly high, which stops your fat cells give up their reserves of energy to help you lose weight .
Oral contraceptive pill can affect the metabolism of which, if?
Your metabolism and metabolism is the rate at which your body burns fuel (food) than you put in the “Run it and give you energy – how to put petrol in the car. Not everyone is” metabolism, or metabolism ‘- heavier than you , the higher your metabolic rate.
Many women complain of weight gain when they begin taking oral contraceptive pill. Have you ever noticed that when you were not’t you on oral contraceptive pill and put on extra weight during the second half of the menstrual cycle? “This is quite normal and due to changes in hormone levels.
Other drugs also can cause weight gain, including pills for depression and, perhaps, unfair to blame oral contraceptive pill. An honest conversation with a health care provider about weight as a side effect of taking oral contraceptive pill, and possibly change the type of pill can reduce anxiety during this delicate question of the image.
Oral contraceptive pill are less effective in women who are overweight or obese, studies have shown that women with an index of body mass index (BMI) of 25-29. 9, which is on oral contraceptive pill have a risk greater than 60% of pregnant women with normal weight (BMI of 18. 5-24. 9). The share is 70% if it has a BMI over 30. Why? The reason is unclear, and there are probably many reasons, but it may be that, because the hormones in contraceptive pills are fat soluble, they dissolve in fat, but not people who are overweight bloodstream.
The higher the metabolism of human fat and reduces the duration of the effect of drugs.
Your liver helps metabolize the hormones in oral contraceptive pill. If you are overweight, enzymes in the liver to rise so high that you have metabolic or “Burn the hormones in contraceptive pills are much faster than usual. Today’s pills contain much lower doses of hormones than before so if you are overweight, they can quickly become burned ‘, where their effect on the body may be of shorter duration and thus increase the risk of getting pregnant.
What can make you gain weight if you are on oral contraceptive pill?
Use the lowest possible estrogen containing pills – which should minimize the weight and swelling from water retention. Two of the current 20 pills that mcgm low doses of estrogen are available: Alesse and Mircette.

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I didn’t really know much about Helen (except that it was going to be released this summer) until I got an email from Sandra Nettelbeck, the director asking me what I knew about when her film was coming out.  I was surprised to get the email from a woman who has a track record (Mostly Martha) and has a film that premiered at Sundance and that has a very high profile star (Ashley Judd.)  But that’s the business and films get lost and lots of time don’t even get released.  The good news is that 18 months after its premiere at Sundance, Helen will finally see the light of day this weekend in NYC and shortly thereafter on DVD.

Sandra Nettelbeck answered some questions about the film.

Women & Hollywood: In the press notes you talk about how you were inspired by your friend’s suicide to tell this story.  Why did you work so hard and long (10 years) to get this film made?

Sandra Nettelbeck: I was profoundly shaken by the death of my friend. The terrible loss, the painful questions and self-doubts that inevitably come with such an experience stayed with me. But it wasn’t until three years later, when I read an article in The New Yorker by Andrew Solomon about his battle with and survival of his own depression, that I started working on Helen. Andrew’s story of survival inspired the story of Helen, and I felt it was a hugely important story to tell. So many people are affected by this deadly illness, and so many people still know so little about it. I am convinced that the lack of information, support and acceptance that clouds clinical depression costs lives every day. I wanted to do my part in trying to change that. This kind of motivation, to feel that you have something to say that will matter, make a difference, possibly help other people, goes a very long way.

W&H: Mental illness is a very common theme in films yet we usually see other people commenting on the person who is ill.  Here you give us almost an x-ray of a person living with depression.  Why was that important to you?

SN: It was important to me to try and tell the story from the perspective of Helen. We’ve seen plenty of films about mental illness, addiction, etc. from the perspective of the husbands, wives, parents, children, friends, about how they experience it when a loved one falls ill. I wasn’t interested in that, even though the family plays a crucial role in Helen as well. I wanted to show what it is like inside of depression. Shed a light on the enigma of a hellish disease and the extent to which it can ruin us. Depression, by nature, is the loss of communication. Film is all about communication. That’s a tricky opposition to balance throughout a two-hour drama. Hopefully, I managed to give a glimpse of what it can be like to live in such a skin, give the audience an idea of what it feels like when these walls are closing in on you.

W&H: This is not an easy movie to watch, but it is hopeful and redemptive.  What can you say to people who might be put off and not want to make the effort to see a “hard” movie especially in the summer.

SN: That it may be even harder to watch it in the winter! No, seriously, this is a tough movie in any weather. And I’m sure it’s not for everyone. But in ten years I have not met one person who was not in some way directly or indirectly affected by this illness. Everyone had a story to tell. Consider the numbers for a moment. In the US alone, almost 20 million people suffer from depression, more than twice as many women as men, and it is the leading cause of disability in the country. And these are just the ones we know about, the ones who got treatment, who managed to face the fact that they need help.

But Helen is also, first and foremost, a love story. It asks the question that I always ask, and that really is the one question that I never get tired of asking – what love can do for us. Helen gives a big answer to that. No matter how hard or dark it gets, I know there is hope and love, and I think the movie compounds that. How crucial it is not to give up hope, under any circum­stance. Not as the one afflicted, nor as the one trying to help. I’ve met a lot of people who shook my hand after the movie because they either finally felt under­stood or did understand in a way they hadn’t done so before. So I do believe this film can make a difference. And as a filmmaker, to me that is the proudest moment.

W&H: How did you get Ashley Judd?

SN: Actually, she got to me. Somebody gave her the script to read and she wrote me a passionate letter about how much it would mean to her to be involved in this film. What she hadn’t been told was that, at the time, I already had a lead actress committed to the project. Ashley and I met anyway because I was very moved by her conviction and enthusiasm, her readiness to take on such a challenge. A few months later, fate would have it that my lead actress had to leave the project due to another prior commitment and ill-timing. So I called Ashley and asked her if she would still consider the role. She said yes right away, and lucky for me, she was available. I think it was meant to be. The film was as personal to her as it was to me.

W&H: Ashley Judd goes to depths we have never seen from her before.  How were you able to get such a stark and brutally honest performance from her?

SN: Ashley was ready and prepared to give herself to this complex and difficult performance in a way that doesn’t happen very often. I think that is the greatest gift to any director – when it is as meaningful and significant to an actor to embody a character, become part of a story, as it was for Ashley to portray Helen. Of course it is also a huge challenge. How much do you push someone on this journey, and how do you protect them. I had to rely on Ashley to draw the line, all I could do is offer her my guidance, my presence, a safe haven any time she needed it – and ask her to trust me as a director. I think she is a brilliant actress, and what she is able and willing to share with us on the screen as Helen is nothing less than extraordinary.

W&H: There are two different forms of mental illness dealt with in the film, depression which Ashley Judd’s character suffers from as well as bi-polar disorder which Lauren Lee Smith’s character Mathilda suffers from.  How were you able to choreograph the scenes between the two actresses who were both dealing with very different emotions that needed to come out onscreen.

SN: As a director I do everything to make the actors feel safe, and if they trust me, they can go to places they haven’t been to before. There is also something truly intimate about Lauren Lee Smith’s performance, something very private and raw. I don’t think you get that if the actors don’t believe you’ll do right by them or if they’re not convinced that you know what you’re doing, that you will protect and appreciate what they give you. I think both Ashley and Lauren felt extremely self-confident inside of their roles, and I myself had very precise ideas about each of the characters that I was able to convey to the actors. So nobody got lost. I think it was this clarity that guided us through the scenes. There was never any doubt in my mind about their relationship, how they affect, oppose, care for and love each other for who they are. The very thing that drives the two women together, their ability to accept each other and give each other the space (and company) they need, their unique relationship within the story, their dynamic opposition and alliance is also what makes the scenes work, and ultimately how Ashley and Lauren worked next to each other. And even though they deal with different illnesses, Mathilda knows depression, as it is part of her condition. She knows how Helen feels, and this is their common ground. Helen on the other hand doesn’t know mania, she can’t follow Mathilda to that place. She doesn’t understand the terrifyingly appealing ambivalence of bi-polar disorder that Mathilda feels and lives with, and that is precisely where she loses her.

W&H: Depression and mental illness in general is pervasive yet is still stigmatized.  The most fully functioning person could all of a sudden be plunged into such deep depths.  What do you want people to learn from this film?

SN: That it can happen to everyone. That it often happens to people you least expect it of. Also, of course, and this is particularly challenging, people have to understand how fine and fluctuating the line is between unhappiness and illness. That people, including and especially the sick ones, often can’t tell the difference – sometimes until it’s too late. Many people would never get as sick as they do if they would find help sooner. The stigma is everywhere, maybe even particularly in the hearts and minds of the people who are ill. You very often hear severely depressed people wish they had cancer, broken bones, anything other than depression – in other words, a “real” illness. Something one can see, point to, identify, isolate. Depression is invisible, often masked (by alcoholism for example), and it afflicts the mind, so it robs us of the very organ we need to cope with it in the first place. It can be a deadly cycle. When you’re inside the illness, you not only lose your grasp of reality, of perspective and hope, you also lose your ability to understand and rationalize your condition. Death becomes attractive because it seems to be the only means to heal the disease.

What I want people to learn above all else is that there is no shame in seeking help and that the best help one can offer as a loved one or friend is to help a depressed person find that help. Nobody expects people with diabetes to “pull themselves together” and try living without the insulin.  But there are many people who would still be alive today if they had found the proper professional help at the right time, and this includes medication. You can see, I do think we have a lot to learn and I could go on and on. If I had to sum it up, once again, I’d say, don’t be afraid or ashamed to ask for help, don’t give up hope, and don’t give up the fight.

W&H: You also really try to get to the heart of how mental illness is so misunderstood.  When Helen’s husband David (played by Goran Visnjic) says to her psychiatrist, Helen is unhappy, the doctor responds – your wife is not unhappy, she is ill.  Can you talk about how hard it is for people to understand mental illness?

SN: It’s a bitch. Like I said, we can’t point to it. Multiple sclerosis doesn’t look like a broken heart. Cancer doesn’t feel like sadness. Clinical depression however moves within this realm. And we’re inclined to solve our own problems, get a handle on things, tough it out, move on, not whine, take control, be a winner etc. Even when depression is at its worst, when your despair is beyond belief, when you can’t get out of bed, when you feel nauseated all the time, when you can’t sleep, when you loathe yourself inside and out, when nothing makes sense and you don’t feel love for anything, when you can’t stop crying and all you can think about is how best to end your life – even then, the idea that it is your fault, that you really only need to pull yourself together and you’d get better, can easily manifest itself. And it’s not surprising. The lines are almost impossible to draw, and it’s hardly ever completely exclusive of one another. At the other end of the spectrum one may draw the line too easily. As if a pill is all you need. I can tell you this: at best pills can help you manage depression, they can help you learn to live with it, they can lift the most paralyzing black blanket and enable you to get back some control, to live your life in a way so you are no longer a victim of your illness. But they’re not a cure. They can’t make you happy. Happiness is still very much our responsibility and has nothing to do with the disease. Just as it is our responsibility to deal and address conflict that arises, face necessary struggles and respect and accommodate love and relationships. Happiness is no guarantee and can’t be medically induced. The ability to live your life fully however is something one can be robbed of by the disease. And all this is just the tip of the iceberg. Depression is long, tedious, hard work, and once you get through the thick of it and are lucky enough to survive it, the real work begins (like it does at the end of the movie). Even under the best of circumstance, when you have people who love and try to understand and accept you for who you are, living with this illness is hard.

W&H: The film premiered over a year ago at Sundance.  Why did it take so long for it to come to theatres?

SN: More often than not it is frustrating, demoralizing and sometimes infuriating how little control one has over this aspect of the filmmaking process. Not to say that there has ever been an easy time to release a challenging film, but the last couple of years certainly haven’t been favorable for independent drama. I have to say I am very happy that the film will see the light of day at all in the US. I feel that that’s where this film really belongs. I surely wish it had gotten a lot more exposure than it has.

W&H: What are you working on next?

SN: I’m adapting a French novella about an American widower in Paris. It’s a charming, bittersweet and melancholic comedy. It reminds me in many ways of Mostly Martha and once again revolves around the themes that you can find in each one of the five films I’ve made so far – who is part of the family, what we do for love and what love can do for us.

Helen opens in NY at the Quad today and will be out on DVD August 10th.

family support depression





Obviously depression is all in the mind. For some people there are literally hundreds, maybe thousands of reasons to feel depressed, and believe it or not, there are just as many ways to feel better and more cheerful. Some of them are easy, some are more difficult. But if you really WANT to feel better, only you can do that for yourself. Drugs always have negative side effects. People are in control of their own selves. Just be happy. It is a state of mind. Put yourself into it... Take care of yourself and you will start to feel better about yourself. Happiness will happen like a domino effect. One thing will lead to another. Clean yourself. Take a bubble bath by candlelight. Groom yourself, maybe go to the barber or beauty salon. Clean your home, turn on some good music and clean. It will clean your soul. Exercise. Smile, it is contagious. Do things for others, even though you may not want to. Do a person a favor. Go out of your way to help someone. Think positive, negative thoughts can only harm your soul. Don't let negative people into your life, deflect all negative energies and let the positive fill your life. Eat healthy foods, your body will thank you and you will feel better physically. Listen to happy music, it can change your mood almost instantly. Watch happy television programs, just fast forward the commercials and the news. Don't watch the news, the media only reports sad, negative and depressing topics. Sing happy songs. Make a list of things you love and concentrate on each of them and feel the love inside you. Be optimistic, pessimistic thoughts only lead to more of the same. Take a walk in nature and truly love the beauty of the world and all it's creatures. Give someone a compliment and tell them they look handsome or pretty. Believe that everything is always going to get better. Give a hug to a friend or a stranger, the love will rub off. Pretend you're a movie star and pamper yourself all day. Start a happiness journal and write beautiful things and thoughts about yourself and others. Do something fun or creative, something you really enjoy. Learn something new. Reflect on past events in your life that made you happy. Change the scenery, paint your house, decorate. Break out of the routine, try something new, do something new. Do it for yourself. Dance even if you don't know how. Go to a petting zoo and give some love to some animals. Animals live in the present and give love unconditionally. Do yoga. Meditate. Live your own life. Get motivated. Remember there are always people that want to help you and will be there for you. Once you start doing some of these things you won't have time to be depressed. When we realize and accept the fact that life can be difficult, we begin to make it less painful. Some people say Mood disorders can sometimes be caused by a nutritional deficit, eat healthy. Maybe see a nutritionist.
The above is just my thoughts on the subject of depression and was shortened to fit.
Hugs, JoolieGirl

an oral history of the great depression





Many people are comfortable cures neoliberal economic policies that enhance corporate tyranny, so they like this type of book. Although, as another reviewer pointed out a star, “the forgotten man” is the kind of book to expect the corporatist who seek to dismantle social spending and other aspects of government that serve the general truth public.The forgotten men (and women) since the time of the Depression are members of the Communist Party, which put pressure on Roosevelt to adopt major programs. I will not list the programs here, but there are ways to “promote the general welfare” (which the Constitution charges of a government of, by and for people to do) not grant a permanent protection for contractors and other arms industries anti-social. McCarthyism and its modern defenders have worked hard to undo the work and achievements on the race from the far left. Pitting race against each other (as in the current climate of immigrant bashing) and the weakening of the working class (as in the endless efforts to thwart the work organization) are standard tactics of mega-investor class that Ms. clays and the rest of Wall Street represents the Board. The Communist Party of the United States was attacked by forces such as the FBI, but he managed to pressure the Roosevelt administration in some of these policies, the government turned to ridicule and / or directed by the elite. For example, money from social security system is something that Wall Street firms want to take control of the people. The fees that investment firms will be the application system privatized retirement accounts to create luxury lifestyles citizens “Richistan. Richistan: A Journey with the rise of American wealth and the lives of the new administrators of perception richesLes line of ultra-rich this book out now. The host of nationally syndicated radio talk show host Thom Hartmann has been to inform his audience considerably on the true story of the economic crisis and the Roosevelt administration. Hartmann even played recordings of FDR’s speech, and includes the transcript of FDR’s acceptance speech for the Democratic nomination in his book, Unequal Protection: The Rise of Corporate Dominance and Theft of Human hommeQuelques lines this speech will bring more clarity about why Newt Gingrich, Rush Limbaugh and corporatist working to rewrite the legacy of Franklin Delano Roosevelt. “Men and women, hours worked, wages they receive, their work conditions – they had exceeded the population control, and were imposed this industrial dictatorship. The average household savings, the capital of the small businessmen, investment for old age – other people’s money – these are the tools that the new economic royalty used to dig itself in. .. Throughout the nation, the possibility was limited by monopoly. Individual initiative was crushed in the wheels a great machine. The field open to the public free of charge has been increasingly restricted. Private enterprise, indeed, became too private. It became privileged enterprise, not free enterprise. “Another forgotten man of the time is General Smedley Butler, who has denounced an attempted coup by wealthy industrialists to overthrow the government of Franklin D. Roosevelt. Video of the historic press conference, Butler is the documentary The Corporation. Et to require much more time a different kind of economy, I suggest economics of happiness: wealth genuine BuildingNote: 1 / 5

Serena, by Ron Rash

The year is 1929, and newlyweds George and Serena Pemberton arrive from Boston in the North Carolina mountains to create a timber empire. Serena is new to the mountains – but she soon shows herself the equal of any worker, overseeing crews, hunting rattlesnakes, even saving her husband’s life in the wilderness. Yet she also learns that she will never bear a child. Serena’s discovery will set in motion a course of events that will change the lives of everyone in this remote community. As the Pembertons’ intense, passionate marriage starts to unravel, this riveting story of love, passion and revenge moves toward its shocking reckoning.

From Those Wonderful Folks Who gave You Pearl Harbor, by Jerry Della Femina

In 1970 Jerry Della Femina wrote this gossip-filled, insider’s account of working on Madison Avenue during the golden age of advertising. It caused a sensation, became a bestseller and established itself as a cult classic.

Years later, it inspired the multi-award-winning drama Mad Men.

American Rust, by Philipp Meyer

It is the story of two young men bound to the town by family, responsibility, inertia and the beauty around them who dream of a future beyond the factories, abandoned homes, and the polluted river.

Isaac is the smartest kid in town, left behind to care for his sick father after his mother commits suicide and his sister Lee moves away. Now Isaac wants out too. Not even his best friend, Billy Poe, can stand in his way: broad-shouldered Billy, always ready for a fight, still living in his mother’s trailer. Then, on the very day of Isaac’s leaving, something happens that changes the friends’ fates and tests the loyalties of their friendship and those of their lovers, families, and the town itself.

Evoking John Steinbeck’s novels of restless lives during the Great Depression, Philipp Myer’s American Rust is an extraordinarily moving novel about the bleak realities that battle our desire for transcendance, and the power of love and friendship to redeem us.

  • Download a chapter from American Rust

The Perks of Being a Wallflower, by Steven Chbosky

Charlie is a freshman. And while he’s not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. Charlie is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But Charlie can’t stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

Stardust, by Joseph Kanon

Hollywood, 1945. Ben Collier returns from war to the news that his filmmaker brother Daniel has died in mysterious circumstances — the papers say it was an accident, but others suspect suicide. Daniel was a heroic figure who helped many prominent German intellectuals escape Europe before the war and then settled in Los Angeles with his beautiful wife, Liesl. Why would a man with such a bright future take his own life? Could he have been murdered?

Ben is determined to uncover the truth and uses his friendship with Continental Studios boss Sol Lasner to penetrate the maze of studio politics and Hollywood secrets. Beneath the surface shine of the movie business lies a darker world where even the biggest stars and star-makers are vulnerable to old secrets being exposed and old loyalties tested…

  • Take a tour of Hollywood past with Jospeh Kanon
  • Stardust reading group guide

Founding Brothers, by Joseph J. Ellis

Founding Brothers is an illuminating, Pulitzer Prize-winning study of the intertwined lives of the founders of the American republic: Adams, Burr, Franklin, Hamilton, Jefferson, Madison, and Washington. During the 1790s these great statesmen came together to define the new republic and direct its course for the future. Ellis focuses on six key ‘moments’ in this era: Burr and Hamilton’s deadly duel; the ‘secret dinner’ of Hamilton, Jefferson, and Madison, during which the seat of the nation’s capital was determined; Franklin’s petition to end slavery, and Madison’s efforts to quash it; Washington’s farewell address that offered his country some parting advice about US involvement in other nations’ affairs; Adams’s difficult term as Washington’s successor; and Adams and Jefferson’s correspondence at the end of their lives, in which they compared their views of the Revolution and its legacy.

In a lively and engaging narrative, Ellis shows us the private characters behind the public personas, and argues that the checks and balances that permitted the republic to endure were intensely personal, rooted in the dynamic interaction of these men. Founding Brothers informs our understanding of American politics – then, and now.

Wall Street, by Steve Fraser

This epic book is a passionate, critical history of the most powerful financial district in the world. Steve Fraser’s story of America’s love-hate relationship with its own economic power is brought to life with colourful tales of robber barons and aristocrats, Napoleonic financiers and reckless adventurers, men to the manor born and men from nowhere. Meticulously researched and masterfully written, Wall Street is history on a grand scale, fully deserving of its subject.

Mystery Train, by Greil Marcus

Greil Marcus’s study of American rock and roll is universally acclaimed as the benchmark work of modern rock criticism. Using a handful of artists – a brace of bluesmen, The Nad, Sly Stone, Randy Newman and Elvis Presley – Marcus illuminates and interprets the American Dream in rigorous prose touching on the myth, landscape and oral tradition of the continent.

Housekeeping, by Marilynne Robinson

Acclaimed on publication as a contemporary classic, Housekeeping is the story of Ruth and Lucille, orphans growing up in the small desolate town of Fingerbone in the vast northwest of America. Abandoned by a succession of relatives, the sisters find themselves in the care of Sylvie, the remote and enigmatic sister of their dead mother. Steeped in imagery of the bleak wintry landscape around them, the sisters’ struggle towards adulthood is powerfully portrayed in a novel about loss, loneliness and transience.

Private Life, by Jane Smiley

Margaret Mayfield is nearly an old maid at twenty-seven when she marries Captain Andrew Jackson Jefferson Early. He’s the most famous man their Missouri town has ever produced: a naval officer and an astronomer – a genius who, according to the local paper, has changed the universe. Margaret’s mother calls the match ‘a piece of luck’.

Yet Andrew confounds Margaret’s expectations from the moment their train leaves for his naval base in San Francisco, and soon she realizes that his devotion to science leaves little room for anything, or anyone, else. She stands by him through tragedies both personal and those they share with the nation. But as World War II approaches, Andrew’s obsessions take a darker turn, forcing Margaret to reconsider the life she’d so carefully constructed.

Private Life is a portrait of marriage and the mysteries that endure even in lives lived side by side, a riveting historical panorama, and an unforgettable novel from one of our finest storytellers.

The Motel Life, by Willy Vlautin

‘The night it happened I was drunk, almost passed out, and I swear to God a bird came flying through my motel room window . . .’

Narrated by Frank Flannigan, The Motel Life tells the story of how he and his brother Jerry Lee take to the road in a bid to escape the hit-and-run accident which kick-starts the narrative. Written with huge compassion, and an eye for the small details of life, it has become one of the most talked about debuts of recent years.

Lake Wobegon Days, by Garrison Keillor

Lake Wobegon Days is the marvellous chronicle of an imaginary place located somewhere in the middle of the state (but not on the map) and named after an Indian word meaning ‘Here we are!’ or ‘We sat all day in the rain waiting for you.’ From the narrator – a skinny Protestant kid fascinated by the Catholic church – we learn of the town’s beginnings and of the settlers who made their lives there. A contemporary classic filled with warmth and humour, sadness and tenderness, songs and poems, it is also an unforgettable portrait of small-town America.

Diner, by Barry Levinson

Baltimore 1959, and a gang of male friends in their early twenties reconvene for the wedding of their pal Eddie. Boogie is the hustler of the group, a trainee hairdresser mired in gambling debts. Shreevie is the elder statesman, already married (albeit tetchily) to Beth. Fenwick is the reckless trust-fund prankster; Modell the straight-faced jester; Billy the thoughtful intellectual.

The sole obstacle barring Eddie’s marriage is that he has decreed that his fiancée Elyse must first pass a taxing quiz on pro-football trivia; and there’s the rub. On the threshold of adulthood, the guys remain happiest hanging out together in the neighbourhood diner, feasting on sodas and French fries in gravy, shooting the breeze about pop records, first dates and schoolboy pranks. Maturity, responsibility and real red-blooded women are the challenges they truly fear.

Like the other two entries in Barry Levinson’s ‘Baltimore trilogy’ (Tin Men and Avalon), Diner is a satisfyingly literary creation, free of plot points or grandstanding resolutions. People just talk; true-life characters and situations are lovingly and wittily evoked. Diner is the original ‘guys together’ picture, a template for future hits such as Swingers.