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The third book from perhaps the most original comic novelist in England 'I live in a house built entirely from tin. For a long while I was quite content here, and remained convinced I would find no better place to be. Then one day a woman arrived at my door and said, "So this is where you've been hiding."' Living in a tin shack, on a great plain, with only the wind for company: what could be better? But with Mary Petrie rapidly turning your house into a home, and the charismatic Michael Hawkins enticing your neighbours away, suddenly there are choices to be made. Should you stay? Or join the exodus?
A man living in isolation within a tin house finds his solitary existence disrupted by the arrival of a woman and the subsequent exodus of his neighbors. The protagonist, content with his minimalist life on a vast plain, faces a sudden shift in his environment when Mary Petrie begins domesticating his shack and Michael Hawkins initiates a mysterious movement among the local residents. The narrative, delivered in a deadpan first-person voice, explores the tension between the comfort of established routines and the pressure of external influence. As the community begins to fracture, the narrator must decide whether to maintain his singular lifestyle or succumb to the pull of the collective migration.
This work is characterized by the author's signature dry wit and penchant for creating unsettling, isolated environments that mirror real-world social dynamics. The narrative structure suggests a deliberate focus on the absurdity of human behavior when faced with sudden, unexplained shifts in communal norms. Readers often note the author's ability to maintain a sense of mounting tension through subtle, understated dialogue and repetitive, rhythmic prose. The premise points to a satirical examination of how easily individual convictions can be eroded by the charismatic influence of others within a closed system.
Page Count:
192
Publication Date:
2002-01-01
Publisher:
Flamingo
ISBN-10:
0007110472
ISBN-13:
9780007110476
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