"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
It's a tale that depicts a battle between two rival psychiatrists: Dr Shiva Mukti of St Mungo's in Fitzrovia, an Indian "of modest achievement but vaulting ambitions" (ambitions he is convinced are being thwarted by a "crypto-psycho-Semitic" cabal) and the Jewish Dr Zack Busner, father of the Quantity Theory of Insanity and consultant at Heath Hospital. Their weapons, missiles really, are damaged patients that they fire back and forth across the Hampstead Road in a dual for supremacy. Busner sends "Creosote Man", a schizoid "with a mission to bring creosote ideas to the rest of mankind" to Mukti for a second opinion. Mukti counters with Rocky, a "Humanoid time bomb with a frontal-lobe lesion" and dreadlocks that gush "from his high forehead like jets of gingerish flocculent water". And so it goes on until Darlene Davis, an anorexic Goth with "a haemoglobin level of six", turns up at St Mungo's. From hereon in things go from bad, to very, very much worse for the Mukti.
London's topography, or a grisly hallucinatory version of it, is etched in lurid detail, the doctors' ambits echoing their contrasts in status. Mukti, his neurosis, his home life and the Hindu community in London's north-western suburbs are observed with acuity. But Self's self-conscious style--the profusion of extraneous similes, metaphors and his recondite vocabulary--is draining to say the least; mouths are "pink baskets", cabbage is "craven" and even a lowly potato is "pusillanimous". Self aficionados, and those who relish seeing words such as "flocculent" liberated from the mustier nooks of the dictionary, won't fail to be delighted. --Travis Elborough
"About this title" may belong to another edition of this title.
Shipping:
£ 4.80
From United Kingdom to U.S.A.
Book Description Hardback. Condition: Very Good. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003289434
Book Description Hardback. Condition: Good. The book has been read but remains in clean condition. All pages are intact and the cover is intact. Some minor wear to the spine. Seller Inventory # GOR005187523
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Used; Good. **SHIPPED FROM UK** We believe you will be completely satisfied with our quick and reliable service. All orders are dispatched as swiftly as possible! Buy with confidence! Greener Books. Seller Inventory # 3679118
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. 1st Edition. Signed limited 1st edition 1st printing hardback sealed in its plastic wrapping and with CD of Will Self reading 'Conversations with Ord'. Signed by author. Book and dustjacket both in mint condition, still in its sealed plastic wrapping. Book with no inscriptions. Not a book club edition, ex library or a remainder. I am happy to supply scans. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 000228
Book Description Original Cloth. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Webb, William (illustrator). First Edition. Signed limited edition with a free CD of the author reading one of the stories - Conversations with Ord. Signed by the author on the title page . Heavy bumping to the top corners but the boards are otherwise clean and unmarked. Slight browning to the page edges with a small dent to the bottom edges but the pages are otherwise clean and unmarked. Jacket has some creasing to the top corners and a few small dents to the rear panel. Special edition label on rear panel. Jacket design by William Webb. First printing. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 018657
Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Near Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. 1st Edition. First edition, nr fine in nr fine unclipped dw. Signed by author on title page. Appears unread with no other inscriptions. A little marking to upper edge of text block. Together with un-played, mint condition CD of Will Self reading 'Conversations with Ord'. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # H12-nh32
Book Description First edition, first printing. Signed by the author. Fine in fine dustjacket. Seller Inventory # 10576
Book Description Hardcovers. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. First ed. Limited issue of 1000 copies signed by Self with a CD of Self reading "Conversations with Ord" laid in as issued. Satin pagemarker. Unread copy in Fine condition in a Fine dustjacket in the publisher's unopened shrinkwrap. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 41966
Book Description Hardcover/Hardback. Condition: As New. Dust Jacket Condition: As New. First Edition. As new condition stated signed first edition with CD recording of author reading Conversations with Ord. Unread (obviously and in publisher's original shrinkwrap.) A 4" split in shrinkwrap at top textblock. signed by author or artist. Seller Inventory # 2474
Book Description Hardcovers. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Fine. First Edition. First edition, first prnt. Limited to 1000 copies signed by Self as issued. CD of Self reading "Conversations with Ord" laid in as issued. Satin pagemarker. Unread copy in Fine condition in a Fine dustjacket in the publisher's unopened shrinkwrap. Signed by Author(s). Seller Inventory # 30414