The Way Inn - Softcover

Wiles, Will

Softcover

ISBN 10: 006233610X ISBN 13: 9780062336101

Publisher: Harper Perennial, 2014

Synopsis

Pub Date: 2014-09-16 Pages: 304 Language: English Publisher: HarperCollins THE WAY INN is a smart. innovative. genre-synthesizing novel that exhibits both a social relevance and a rare sense of literary intrigue In his second novel (after. CARE OF WOODEN FLOORS) Will Wiles takes the polished surfaces of modern life. the branded coffee and the free wifi. and twists them into a nightmare.THE WAY INN is played out in the anonymous and bizarre lobbies. corridors and concourses in which modern business life takes place. The 'Way Inn' of the title is a global chain of identikit mid-budget hotels. and Neil Double. the novel's protagonist. is a valued member of its loyalty scheme. Neil is a professional conference-goer. a man who will attend trade fairs. expos and conventions so you do not have to. It's a life of budget travel. inexpensive suits and out-of-town exhibition centres. T...

About this title

Review:

"If you are a fan of Kafka, you should enjoy this novel, which is reminiscent of The Metamorphosis."--Kirkus Reviews

"Thrilling, darkly comic disaster [is] lurking in every movement, wine bottle, and floorboard."--Daily Beast

"Funny, beguiling, and quietly profound . . . a wonderfully well-crafted debut."--Times Literary Supplement (London)

"If, like me, you've ever thought that your productivity and creativity would explode if only you could get organized, let this be a (morbidly funny) wakeup call....A precisely written debut from one who knows the value of letting loose."--Minneapolis Star Tribune

"Guffaw-out-loud moments...married to the horrified recognition that provokes empathy. A very funny novel provoking schadenfreude and belly laughs."--The Independent

"Highly idiosyncratic, well-written, with a vivid sense of place-and weirdly compelling."--Michael Frayn, author of Skios and Headlong

"One of the funniest and cleverest books of the year.....Care of Wooden Floors reads like a farce directed by Alfred Hitchcock, and the novel's denouement will surprise even the most jaded readers."--Washington Independent Review of Books

"Fawlty Towers crossed with Freud."--Daily Telegraph (London)

"One of the most brilliant and entertaining literary debuts this year. The precision of his language and the care with which he delineates the characters and their environment is nothing less than astounding."--Pittsburg Post-Gazette

"A nicely turned satire on the notion that the path to spiritual contentment lies in a pristine set of polished wooden floorboards... CARE OF WOODEN FLOORS indicates that Wiles has an eye for beauty, but an even more impressive eye for ugliness. It's a novel full of impeccably stylish writing."--The Guardian

From the Back Cover:

From the acclaimed author of Care of Wooden Floors comes a multidimensional novel that twists the polished surfaces of modern business into a surrealistic nightmare of infinite proportions.

Neil Double is a "conference surrogate," hired by his clients to attend industry conferences so that they don't have to. It's a life of budget travel, cheap suits, and exhibition centers--a kind of paradise for Neil. But his latest job, at a conference of conference organizers, will radically transform him and everything he believes as it draws him into a bizarre and speculative mystery. In a brand-new Way Inn--a global chain of mid-budget motels--in an airport hinterland, he wanders beyond a quotidian fire door and encounters a strange woman known to him only through his dreams. His world tessellates and the woman flees. His search for her will lead him to discover dark and disturbing secrets about the Way Inn, and reality itself. Trapped in a metaphysical Möbius strip, Neil must finally accept that there may be no way out of his mass-produced environment--and devise an impossible plan of escape.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harper Perennial
• Publication date: 2014
• ISBN 10: 006233610X
• ISBN 13: 9780062336101
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352