The Closed Circle - Softcover
The Closed Circle is Jonathan Coe's hilarious sequel to The Rotters' Club
It's the end of the century and Benjamin Trotter and friends are all grown up. Life is a ceaseless whirl of jobs, marriages, kids - and self-inflicted angst. Despite the shiny optimism of Blair's Britain, youthful hopes and dreams feel betrayed. Is the Government (and by extension Benjamin's MP brother Paul) to blame? Or are the 'rotters' themselves - only passingly faithful to their dreams - really at fault?
The Closed Circle - sequel to The Rotters' Club - depicts a group of former school friends as older, wiser and disillusioned in Blair's Britain at the turn of the millennium. It proves that the present can never truly be disentangled from the past.
'Terrific. An incisive portrait of Britain at the turn of the century' Spectator
'Coe's finest achievement since What a Carve up!' Time Out
'Popular fiction at its best' Daily Mail
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From the Inside Flap:
The characters of "The Rotters' Club--Jonathan Coe's nostalgic, humorous evocation of adolescent life in the 1970s--have bartered their innocence for the vengeance of middle age in a story that is very much of the moment, charged with such issues as 9/11 and the invasion of Iraq.
On New Year's Eve of 1999, with Tony Blair presiding over a glossy new version of Britain, Benjamin Trotter watches the celebration on television in the same Birmingham house where he'd grown up. Watches, in fact, his younger brother Paul, now a member of Parliament and a rising star of New Labour, glad-handing his way through the festive crowd at the Millennium Dome. Neither of them could guess their lives are about to implode.
Paul begins an affair with his young assistant, soon realizes he has made the fatal mistake of falling in love with her, then is threatened with exposure by Doug Anderton, a journalist who happens to be one of his oldest schoolboy enemies. At the same time, Benjamin and his friend Claire, still haunted by memories almost thirty years old, make a desperate attempt to break free of the past, if only to escape the notion that their happiest years are behind them.
As Cool Britannia is forced to address its ongoing racial and social tensions--and as its role in America's "war on terrorism" grows increasingly compromised--"The Closed Circle shuttles between London and Birmingham, where fat cats, politicos, media advisers, and protesters in both locales lay bare an era when policy and PR have become indistinguishable. Meanwhile, its rich cast of characters contends with startling revelations about their youth and the pressing, perennial problems of love, vocation, and family.
About the Author:
On New Year's Eve of 1999, with Tony Blair presiding over a glossy new version of Britain, Benjamin Trotter watches the celebration on television in the same Birmingham house where he'd grown up. Watches, in fact, his younger brother Paul, now a member of Parliament and a rising star of New Labour, glad-handing his way through the festive crowd at the Millennium Dome. Neither of them could guess their lives are about to implode.
Paul begins an affair with his young assistant, soon realizes he has made the fatal mistake of falling in love with her, then is threatened with exposure by Doug Anderton, a journalist who happens to be one of his oldest schoolboy enemies. At the same time, Benjamin and his friend Claire, still haunted by memories almost thirty years old, make a desperate attempt to break free of the past, if only to escape the notion that their happiest years are behind them.
As Cool Britannia is forced to address its ongoing racial and social tensions--and as its role in America's "war on terrorism" grows increasingly compromised--"The Closed Circle shuttles between London and Birmingham, where fat cats, politicos, media advisers, and protesters in both locales lay bare an era when policy and PR have become indistinguishable. Meanwhile, its rich cast of characters contends with startling revelations about their youth and the pressing, perennial problems of love, vocation, and family.
Jonathan Coe is the author of eleven novels, all published by Penguin, which include the highly acclaimed bestsellers What a Carve Up!, The House of Sleep and The Rotters' Club. His most recent novel is Number 11.
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- PublisherPenguin
- Publication date2014
- ISBN 10 0241967724
- ISBN 13 9780241967720
- BindingPaperback
- Number of pages448
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The Closed Circle (Paperback)
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: new. Paperback. 'Probably the best English novelist of his generation' Nick HornbyOn Millennium night, with Blair presiding over a superficially cool, sexed-up new version of the country, Benjamin Trotter finds himself watching the celebrations on his parents' TV. Watching, in fact, his younger brother, Paul, now a bright young New Labour MP who has bought wholeheartedly into the Blairite dream. Neither of them can know that their lives are about to implode.Set against the backdrop of a changing Britain and the country's increasingly compromised role in America's 'war against terrorism', the characters struggle to make sense of the perennial problems of love, vocation and family. On Millennium night, with Blair presiding over a sexed-up new version of the country, Benjamin Trotter finds himself watching the celebrations on his parents' TV. Watching, in fact, his younger brother, Paul, now a New Labour MP who has bought wholeheartedly into the Blairite dream. Neither of them can know that their lives are about to implode. Shipping may be from multiple locations in the US or from the UK, depending on stock availability. Seller Inventory # 9780241967720
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Book Description Paperback / softback. Condition: New. New copy - Usually dispatched within 4 working days. On Millennium night, with Blair presiding over a sexed-up new version of the country, Benjamin Trotter finds himself watching the celebrations on his parents' TV. Watching, in fact, his younger brother, Paul, now a New Labour MP who has bought wholeheartedly into the Blairite dream. Neither of them can know that their lives are about to implode. Seller Inventory # B9780241967720
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Brand New. 448 pages. 7.76x5.04x1.26 inches. In Stock. Seller Inventory # __0241967724
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Book Description Condition: New. On Millennium night, with Blair presiding over a sexed-up new version of the country, Benjamin Trotter finds himself watching the celebrations on his parents' TV. Watching, in fact, his younger brother, Paul, now a New Labour MP who has bought wholeheartedly into the Blairite dream. Neither of them can know that their lives are about to implode. Num Pages: 448 pages. BIC Classification: FA. Category: (G) General (US: Trade). Dimension: 197 x 131 x 28. Weight in Grams: 312. . 2014. Re-issue. Paperback. . . . . Seller Inventory # V9780241967720
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