If you like Vonnegut, try "Stoner" by John Williams

"What did you expect?"
This seems to be the line that nobody seems to appreciate and the one he repeatedly visits at the end of the book. It is exactly the difference between our expectations and the reality of the world that is the source of all our pain and sorrow and it's through examining this question that Stoner truly becomes heroic.
I am not ashamed to admit that I also read the last few chapters in tears as Stoner faced this question without sentiment or judgement; it's a question that's coming to all of us.
Good luck to those who so righteously know the difference between 'winning' and 'losing' when their time comes; I suspect it will be much more bitter than Stoners.

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