While most literary critics overlook J. M. Coetzee’s use of the gift as a trope in Slow Man (2005), this study examines the aporia of gift-giving and -receiving in the novel. The logic of the gift, particularly addressed by Jacques Derrida, inspires a close reading of this work. Using gift theories as the background, I investigate the concrete occurrences of gifts and discuss the different facets of gift-giving and gift-exchange in the text. Subsequently, I explore the more abstract aspects of the gift by relating it to love and life. Tracking the entangled relationship between gift, love, and life, I contend that the writer Elizabeth Costello functions as a catalyst that makes Paul Rayment reflect on the essence of the gift and also on his life. The novel indicates that gifts should be given out of love, i.e., an absolute love without reciprocation, while inviting a consideration of how to judge the act of giving.