Some days you lose your job, some days your kids move out and some days your husband resembles a cocktail frankfurt. Some days you prang the car, you're stalked, or you're robbed, some days your hair looks like you've been electrocuted and some days all of these things happen at once. And on top of that your bum drops.

In this gleefully exaggerated memoir Gretel Killeen looks at the big questions that we're confronted with in times of calamity: what the hell is life all about and what on earth are we supposed to do with it?

With warmth, wisdom and wicked wit, Gretel seeks advice from old friends ('life sucks and then you die'), new friends ('life is a life-changing experience') and family '(maybe you should rent out your big bum as a kind of mobile advertising space'), taking us on a hilarious yet poignant ride as she stands on top of the hill that she's not only climbed but has also built, looks at the view and wonders, 'Is this all there is?'

'Killeen is a) funny and b) likeable... jostling with poignant moments.' The Age

'If there's one thing that ... Gretel never fails to do, it's entertain us.' OK