Synopsis:
Will Self has been described as the composite of "a manic J. G. Ballard and a depressive David Lodge." Combining a wild imagination, a bizarre sense of humor, and a masterful command of language, Self is the newest young literary star to appear out of England, following in the path of Martin Amis, Jeanette Winterson, and Julian Barnes.
When Dan met Carol they had one brief moment of ecstacy, one balmy coming together. After that everything fell apart. Carol began to feel less like a woman when Dan was around, and a little more like something else altogether. It could have been his drinking, it could have been his timid thrusts masquerading as penetration, but it wasn't. No, Carol had acquired something old, something new, something that was borrowed but which could never be blue. Clever girl, she'd grown a penis.
There's nothing unusual about a woman having a penis in our society today, now is there? After all, it's arguable that in the wake of the sexual revolution more and more women are taking on the characteristics of men... But we aren't talking about power dressing here, or who gets the key to the executive bathroom. There's nothing metaphoric about Carol's penis, this is a flesh-and-blood thing, a tail capable of wagging the dog. When Carol acquires her penis, things start to radically alter her life: she feels a new ability to act, and act she does, with terrifyingly macho consequences.
Bull, a heavyset young man, awakes one morning to discover that during the night he has acquired a new sexual characteristic, to wit: a vagina. Of course, poor Bull can't actually see that's what it is, so he goes to get help from the obvious source, poor fool - his doctor.
How was Bull to know that Dr. Margoulies was ripe for the strangest sexual adventure of his life? How could Bull have realized just how enticing his kindly doctor would find Bull's new organ? Poor Bull, friendly Bull, trusting Bull. He's just an ordinary sort of guy, fond of sports and a few beers.
Cock & Bull is a nightmare ride on the roller coaster where gender isn't so much bent as snapped in two. But then, in this world where sexual characteristics are being tossed around like salad, perhaps there's a bit of cock and bull in all of us?
From the Back Cover:
As the song goes, "Girls will be boys and boys will be girls." "Cock: A Novelette" is the story of a woman who grows a fully functional penis. "Bull: A Farce" is the story of a man who acquires a vagina and all its companion parts.
There are, however, complications.
Cock & Bull is plain evidence that Will Self is an enfant terrible of English letters in the tradition of Martin Amis and Julian Barnes.
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
