"The trouble with losing your mind if you're an author is, how can anybody tell? When Australian journalist Somerset Lenin emerges from a corn-field in south-west England, he notices a few cracks in his reality. He thought it strange to find himself wearing a yellow anorak and checked trousers and be standing in such a lonely place, worshipping the wind. Almost as strange as coming across a book entitled Oedipus and Hamlet - a Neo-Feminist Deconstruction by the Spice Girls (stickers not included). After losing his soul-mate, Natasha, to her husband, Somerset travels to England looking for the meaning of life and to write a follow-up article on crop- circles. Instead, he loses his mind. Okay, it wasn't that big to begin with, but it's his and he wants it back. Deja vu - you'll laugh until you stop."
paperback, 0091839777
...this is probably most definitely one of my all time favourite books, and with out the least little niggling bit of doubt my favourite John Larkin book, ever. It's brilliant! It's fantastic! And more! It's big on the references to some of the best 'eighties' music (The Cure, The Smiths, New Order, Altered Images) and other authors and it's just so... I don't know, I'm biased, I love it! For me, it gets more complex and interesting everytime I read it. Essentially, it's a "sci-fi", but it's also very human, hilarious at times, and sad/melancholic, too. And there's something about chapter forty-five... :) (I tend to use the word "favourite" too often, but if I could use it on only one book, it'd be this. (Damn! Used it on two books- see "Pacifist's Guide to Self-Flagellation"...))
So obviously I reccommend it, and very obviously I give it fifty two billion stars. Can I have Margaret from "At the Movies" job now? :)
Reviews by other people:
Eric Lindsay from http://www.ericlindsay.com/sf/geg91.htm said:
"Sydney based author with his first bizarre adult novel about crop circles, and the meaning of life, after several novels for children. As novels go, it isn't going very far, however it contains a wonderful series of comic reflections on parts of life. "
"The trouble with losing your mind if you're an author is, how can anybody tell? When Australian journalist Somerset Lenin emerges from a corn-field in south-west England, he notices a few cracks in his reality. He thought it strange to find himself wearing a yellow anorak and checked trousers and be standing in such a lonely place, worshipping the wind. Almost as strange as coming across a book entitled Oedipus and Hamlet - a Neo-Feminist Deconstruction by the Spice Girls (stickers not included). After losing his soul-mate, Natasha, to her husband, Somerset travels to England looking for the meaning of life and to write a follow-up article on crop- circles. Instead, he loses his mind. Okay, it wasn't that big to begin with, but it's his and he wants it back. Deja vu - you'll laugh until you stop."
