Christos Tsiolkas’ The Slap is an Australian take on prissy parents and bratty kids. It revolves around a man slapping another couple’s child, and the reverberations and conflicts that follow. It takes place in an upper-middle class Australian neighborhood, where the parents have strong beliefs, and, of course, their own boatloads of personal anxiety and conflict. 

Each chapter is from a different characters’ perspective, which keeps the book fresh and exciting. And since each character is strikingly different from each other — in terms of sexuality, culture, age, and beyond — each perspective throws the book in a completely different direction.

Tsiolkas’ writing is full of profanity and sex. Thus, if the past few sentences didn’t persuade you, maybe that will.

Regardless, the book is entertaining and interesting, and will both make you think and sweat.