Too Beautiful for You

Shameless, deviant, depraved, the characters in Rod Liddle's story collection are just like us--only much, much worse.

Dumped by his mistress, Dempsey weeps on his wife's shoulder, wondering how best to kill himself so that at least seven people will try to stop him. Eddie miserably sneaks off to sleep with his wife's mother--a rather unpleasant situation from which he can't seem to extricate himself. And Christian, despite a terrible train accident and medical disaster, must just make it to Uttoxeter before he is caught in a horrible lie. Disturbingly funny, psychologically astute, and sharp as a knife, this collection of stories reveals the dark heart of human compulsion.

Rod Liddle is a well-known media figure in Britain. He worked at BBC Radio’s Today program and resigned amid much publicity when his bosses objected to his outspoken column in The Guardian. He is now associate editor of The Spectator and lives in South London.