Author, Liam, researches the police force to write his novel from an officer’s point of view and ends up reluctantly becoming a policeman himself! His book fails. His next subject is based on a life-long friend, Aldo, an entrepreneur who is also a petty criminal just out of prison. The tale is told from both points of view. It is a densely written, extraordinary tale of friendship, loss and failure. Reflecting on both their lives and loves, this linguistically brilliant tragic-comic novel must be read slowly, chewed over and inwardly digested. It is horrific, funny, emotional, disturbing, very clever and truly inspirational. A long, sad tale of an optimist who bounces from one tragedy to the next, always believing that somewhere along the line he will make good. It is not an easy read, you must persevere, some will find it tough but if it is to your taste it is hugely rewarding.
A daring, brilliant new novel from Man Booker Prize finalist Steve Toltz, for fans of Dave Eggers, Martin Amis, and David Foster Wallace: a fearlessly funny, outrageously inventive dark comedy about two lifelong friends.Liam is a struggling writer and a failing cop. Aldo, his best friend and muse, is a haplessly criminal entrepreneur with an uncanny knack for disaster. As Aldo's luck worsens, Liam is inspired to base his next book on his best friend's exponential misfortunes and hopeless quest to win back his one great love: his ex-wife, Stella. What begins as an attempt to make sense of Aldo's mishaps spirals into a profound story of faith and friendship. With the same originality and buoyancy that catapulted his first novel, A Fraction of the Whole, onto prize lists around the world--including shortlists for the Man Booker Prize and the Guardian First Book Award--Steve Toltz has created a rousing, hysterically funny but unapologetically dark satire about fate, faith, friendship and the artist's obligation to his muse. Sharp, witty, kinetic and utterly engrossing, Quicksand is a subversive portrait of twenty-first-century society in all its hypocrisy and absurdity.
