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X20: A Novel of [Not] Smoking - Softcover

 
9780099477556: X20: A Novel of [Not] Smoking
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'Beard is as good on the sensuality of smoking as on the philosophy. This is an unusually intelligent, funny and readable first book' Sunday TimesShe offered me the cigarette like an apple. It was love and desire. It was knowledge and everything.'Gregory Simpson is, after years of being paid to smoke a packet a day for research purposes, trying to give up. He decides to write to keep his hands busy and the resulting journal - combining memories of seduction, little-known facts about the tobacco industry and the comfortable camaraderie of the suicide club - is an elegant, witty and confident disquisition on smoking as desire and as a metaphor for desire' Observer'Populated by a cast of well-drawn eccentrics-loaded with encyclopaedic detail on the history and iconography of smoking, this comic novel nevertheless aims at deep seriousness-Beard's writing can be breathtaking' Daily Telegraph Richard Beard's prose is dry, nonchalant and fluent-An accomplished first novel' Times Literary Supplement

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Review:
'One of the most ingenious, resourceful and entertaining novelists in England' -- Philip Hensher
From the Back Cover:

SHE OFFERED ME THE CIGARETTE LIKE AN APPLE. IT WAS LOVE AND DESIRE. IT WAS KNOWLEDGE AND EVERYTHING.

Gregory Simpson is giving up smoking and he has a plan: each time he craves a cigarette he'll write something down instead.

Unfortunately, everything he writes has something to do with smoking, and he finds himself remembering Lucy Hinton, taunting him with endless cigarettes fresh from the packet. He re-examines his friendship with Dr Barclay, a research scientist forever on the point of discovering a safe cigarette, and he tries to make sense of 104-year-old Walter, a life-long smoker in excellent health whose daughter runs an anti-smoking movement called LUNG. Gregory even starts worrying about Bananas, his cat, who seems addicted to sniffing ashtrays. As his ability to concentrate without cigarettes gradually improves, it becomes clear that his relationship with Julian Carr, an old friend and now public relations executive for a cigarette company, is not all it seems.

Meanwhile, Gregory still has to face the problem of life after nicotine: if he doesn't want a cigarette then what does he really want?

Crisp, funny and devastatingly stylish, 'X20' marks the debut of an extraordinary new talent.

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  • PublisherVintage
  • Publication date2005
  • ISBN 10 0099477556
  • ISBN 13 9780099477556
  • BindingPaperback
  • Number of pages320
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Other Popular Editions of the Same Title

9781559703994: X20: A Novel of (Not) Smoking

Featured Edition

ISBN 10:  ISBN 13:  9781559703994
Publisher: Arcade Pub, 1997
Hardcover

  • 9780006497905: X20

    Flamingo, 1997
    Softcover

  • 9780002254052: X20

    Flamingo, 1996
    Hardcover

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Beard, Richard
Published by Vintage Publishing (2005)
ISBN 10: 0099477556 ISBN 13: 9780099477556
New Softcover Quantity: > 20
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moluna
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Book Description Condition: New. Dieser Artikel ist ein Print on Demand Artikel und wird nach Ihrer Bestellung fuer Sie gedruckt. Gregory Simpson is, after years of being paid to smoke a packet a day for research purposes, trying to give up. To keep his hands busy he decides to write a journal.&Uumlber den AutorrnrnRichard Beard s most recent book is Acts. Seller Inventory # 594351167

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