From such questions, and all the surprising, delightful ingredients of a sophisticated comedy that they imply, Julian Barnes has created a deep, even dark, feast of human frailties and needs. Love, etc. stars three characters introduced a decade ago in Talking It Over -- to which this novel has an eerie, freestanding relation. Which is precisely what Stuart feels about Gillian, his wife until his witty, feckless, former best friend Oliver stole her away.

What transpires to further complicate the situation doesn't bear repeating, especially as the three principals (along with many others) are allowed to speak directly to the reader, to whisper their secrets and argue their own truths. Indeed, emerging from this crux are a number of truths we all hope to live by: faith and generosity toward ourselves and loved ones; or, absent that, banality or even brutality.

Every bit as funny and intelligent as everything Julian Barnes has written, Love, etc. is also fabulously engaging, dramatic, and profoundly unsettling.