just one

Wearing Platforms in Istanbul (Title MR, Text JM)

‘Wearing Platforms in Istanbul’ imagines a world identical to this one, save for one detail: shares in living artists are traded on the stock exchange.  In this fictional present, financial market specialist Clement O’Frey specialises in trading shares in high end conceptual artists from the UK.  His adeptness in cutting a deal has secured a mercurial rise from near poverty to a very comfortable London life within 10 years. However, things go cataclysmically wrong when he bets his entire fortune on the video artist Gillian Wearing.  Expecting her shares to soar to new heights in Turkey, O’Frey’s world falls apart when they bottom out in what the stock-market world terms a “platform”.   O’Fray loses everything, and the bulk of this novel chronicles his dissent into mental breakdown. After a gruelling passage through London’s mental healthcare facilities, he achieves a very distinctive spiritual awakening courtesy of his son’s toy sparrow. He finds new happiness as a media guru.   A truly uplifting piece of fiction.

“If you want to learn something about the market for contemporary British art, as well as contemplate vast vistas – buy this book!” (Matthew Collings).

On a trip to Eindhoven

We find inspiration on the flight

This Question (title JM, text NM)
A sprawling state-of-the-nation novel that takes in both the pinnacles of political and cultural power, and the quotidian deprivations of life in the margins.   A powerful mystery thriller and exploration of psychological breakdown, social process and causality, as told through the consciousness of Charles Fontescue, charismatic political figure, Greta Pryce, a well-loved television entertainer, their friends and lovers and those they meet on their way up and way down, carried by the chain of events leading to and spiralling outward from the moment when the journalist asks the politician the unaskable question.   The unfolding of the reasons, medical and retinal, for the fateful question provides a metaphor for the breakdown of social values. "Kept me guessing right til the end" - Ian Rankin.

Wonderment (title NM, text JM)
A tour-de-force by TV's favourite scientist, Megan Grimley. 'Wonderment' explains everything you have always wanted to know about pretty much anything you are interested in. Easy to read: complex theoretical concepts are explained in terms the modern layperson will have no problems getting to grips with. How our brain oils control the weather, sexual relationships, business life, politics and emotional hang-ups. Learn to extract and examine your own brain oils using the pull-out tool included with the hardback edition.
 Not suitable for people with pacemakers or children under 18.

Liverpool Street Location Inspires Two Corkers...

... in my opinion.  We swapped titles back, as JM turned up her nose at 'Fantastic Family', which NM was very excited about.

Plans to Impose (title JM, text JM)
The world's first novel inspired by the rigourous academic discipline of structuralism, 'Plans to Impose' takes a considered look at those planning applications submitted to Walthorpe District Council which were, for various reasons, unsuccessful. Marrying contemporary theoretical debate with a wry side-swipe at the labyrinthine complexities of UK planning law, this novel never ceases to fascinate and entertain in equal measures. Lacking a conventional narrator, the plot's thrust is carried by a series of 'I' voices authored by the local applicants to the planning department seeking three-story mirrored glass extensions to bungalows, or to develop a shopping complex in their back yard.

Fantastic Family (title NM, text NM)
The latest graphic novel to make waves in the mainstream best-seller charts. 'Fantastic Family' chronicles the exploits of three generations of a dynasty of super-heroes, beginning in turn-of-the-20th century Nottinghamshire, with the meeting of Agatha Dymock and the Mighty Tom. She is a psychic spy against German intelligence agents, and he is a circus strongman fighting against the illegal employment of child chimney sweeps.  We follow the struggle of their children to find their own identity in the 1920's and 30's, their son Ronald briefly flirting with the idea of becoming a Blackshirt. William enjoys an untroubled life as a super-hearing super hero until his ideas are irrevocably changed by his burgeoning love for a Jewish refugee girl and he finds fulfilment in hs work as an early type of radar. Sadly, the story ends in tragedy as the third generation succumbs to venereal disease while posted to the far east during the Malaysian uprising. 

"A feast for the eyes and the brain. Smart, sexy and hilarious... and educational" (Jonathan Ross)