Raymond is mad, clever, manipulative and totally out of his parents' control. The other children are lying low, though still inextricably attached to their father's purse-strings. Amidst hilarious misunderstandings and poignant inadequacies, six well-meaning people relentlessly engineer their own and their loved ones' downfall.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
Tim Parks's other novels include Tongues of Flame (winner of the Somerset Maugham and Betty Trask Awards), Loving Roger (winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize), Cara Massimina, Mimi's Ghost and Europa. His non-fiction work includes the bestselling Italian Neighbours and An Italian Education. Tim Parks lives in Italy.
Schizophrenic Raymond Baldwin sends pornographic letters to his siblings, assaults his parents, and at times believes he is a Moslem fanatic. Raymond is the albatross around his English family's neck. His mutton-headed, absentee father and meddling mother can't handle him; his sister, who's ghostwriting a rock 'n' roll book, and her American husband, a conceited academic, have their own worries. Rounding out this motley clan are a pair of fraternal twins, one a preening snob, the other a political hanger-on and moocher who gushes over his married mistress while wooing his left-wing Italian girlfriend ("It is the capitalism which has destroyed the family," she writes). Brilliantly original, painfully funny, sane and bawdy, this semi-epistolary novel maps the vast emotional distances that can exist between blood relations. Self-interest is the cardinal rule governing all these fools except for Raymond, and he, alas, is mad. But his manic yawp crystallizes the pain of wounds that never heal as he exposes an icy coldness at the heart of the family and, by implication, of Thatcher's England. Parks's ( Loving Roger ) tragicomic satire is not to be missed.
Copyright 1989 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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Seller: Klanhorn, Queanbeyan, NSW, Australia
Hard Cover with Dust Jacket. Condition: VG, Wear, Sp Crease, Browning. 1st Edition. Satire. Jacket illustration by Chris Brown. Review copy with publisher's stamp & Canberra Times review stamp on FFEP. There is no price printed on the jacket front flap. Expanded condition report/scan on request. Seller Inventory # 014645
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. First Edition. First edition hard cover, with unclipped dust jacket, both in good condition. Light shelf and handling wear to DJ, minor creasing and rubbing, and light tanning to pageblock. Boards in fine condition. Within, pages are tightly bound, and content is 'as unread'. CN. Used. Seller Inventory # 542091
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Condition: Very Good. 1989. Hardcover. Good clean copy in fine dustwrapper with minor shelf wear and some edgewear to DW, remains a good copy. . . . . Books ship from the US and Ireland. Seller Inventory # KAC0001464
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. The jacket is a bit marked and edgeworn. The ffep is missing. Tightly bound. Our orders are shipped using tracked courier delivery services. Seller Inventory # bv98
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Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Slight waviness to unclipped dust jacket, now protected in clear mylar cover. Not ex-library. Not a remainder. Binding is firm SFE. Seller Inventory # EDB06454
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Condition: Very Good. 1989. Hardcover. Good clean copy in fine dustwrapper with minor shelf wear and some edgewear to DW, remains a good copy. . . . . Seller Inventory # KAC0001464
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Seller: As The Story Was Told, York, United Kingdom
Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. 1st Edition. First edition, VG++ in VG++ unclipped dw. Signed by author on title page. Appears unread. A little dustiness and minor marking to upper edge of text block. A couple of nicks to upper corners of dustwrapper. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # H4-50
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