A funny, compelling novel about love, family, and the precarious business of being a man.

Michael O’Dell is hit by a car. When he doesn’t die, he is surprised and pleased. But he can’t seem to move from the crash position. In fact, the accident is just the first in a series of family crises: His wife Wendy is heroically supportive, but when his daughter Rosie punches out a vindictive schoolmate, all hell breaks loose. His son Declan is found with a stash of illicit drugs. A strange policeman starts harassing the family and ordinary mishaps take on a sinister desperation. To top it all off, Michael’s professional life starts to crumble.

Mark Lamprell’s extraordinary debut examines the terrible truth: sometimes you can’t pull yourself together until you’ve completely fallen apart.

Mark Lamprell has worked in film and television for many years. He co-wrote the film Babe: Pig in the City and wrote and directed the award-winning feature My Mother Frank. His most recent project is the movie musical Goddess, which he co-wrote and directed. The Full Ridiculous is his first novel.

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..a comic novel that is smoothly executed…

Toronto Star

ridiculously fun…[t]he intelligent, grounded, ultimately forgiving comic ode to the overstressed urban family is not only balm to the weary -- it's a wicked laugh.

Winnipeg Free Press

The Full Ridiculous, laced with spontaneous bits of often dark comedy, seems to suggest at times that the processes of living are really an appalling cosmic joke. But it also ends up on the side of human goodness in reaffirming the redemptive power of love.

Calgary Herald

…a novel that will satisfy even the quirkiest of readers… grabs its readers from the first pages. The Full Ridiculous will warm the cockles of cold hearts during wicked weather.

Owen Sound Sun Times