Shep Knacker has long saved for �The Afterlife�: an idyllic retreat to the Third World where his nest egg can last forever. Traffic jams on the Brooklyn-Queens Expressway will be replaced with �talking, thinking, seeing, and being� � and enough sleep. When he sells his business for a cool million dollars, his dream finally seems within reach. Yet his wife Glynis has concocted endless excuses why it�s never the right time to go. Weary of working as a peon for the jerk who bought his company, Shep announces he�s leaving for a Tanzanian island, with or without her. Just returned from a doctor�s appointment, Glynis has some news of her own: Shep can�t go anywhere because she desperately needs his health insurance. But their policy only partially covers the staggering bills for her treatments, and Shep�s nest egg for The Afterlife soon cracks under the strain. So Much for That follows the profound transformation of a marriage, and Shriver delivers a compelling novel that presses the question: How much is one life worth?