The socialist state is in crisis, the shops are empty and old Bucharest vanishes daily under the onslaught of Ceaucescu's demolition gangs. Paranoia is pervasive and secret service men lurk in the shadows.
...the sardonic crispness and evocative power of its language distinguishes it from the run of contemporary fiction. Sean O'Brien, TLS
..engrossing debut novel..I defy anyone not to revel in 350-odd pages of it at least Time Out Magazine **** Book of the Month (June 2011) Buzz Magazine
Author
About Patrick McGuinness
Patrick McGuiness is a professor of French and Comparative Literature at Oxford University and a Fellow of St Anne's College where he has taught since 1998. He lives in North West Wales. Carcanet publishes his poetry and he has won an Eric Gregory Award, the American Poetry Foundation Levinson Prize in 2003 and Poetry Business Prize in 2006.
