Corpsing - Softcover

Litt, Toby

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0241140692 ISBN 13: 9780241140697

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 2000

Synopsis

Set in contemporary London this exciting, intelligent and darkly witty literary thriller tells the story of Conrad and his search to find the perpetrator of his ex-girlfriend's murder. Lily is shot by a hitman disguised as a bicycle courier whilst she and Conrad are having lunch at a too- fashionable-to-be-fashionable Soho restaurant Le Corbusier, six weeks after their break-up. Badly wounded himself, Conrad recovers but is stonewalled by the police when he tries to find out what has happened to them - and why - so pursues his own investigation . . .

About this title

Review

Toby Litt's third book is all bullet entry wounds, violent emotion and forensic detail. Corpsing works as a deconstructed literary thriller, a very knowing examination of the pathology of the genre. It starts off in the traditional way, with a death. Jean Luc Godard said 'all you need for a good story is a girl and a gun.' In Corpsing the girl is Lily, a beautiful actress and the ex-girlfriend of Conrad, the narrator. The gun is in the hands of an assassin, dressed in bike courier clothing who looks like "a vision of the future--a future where everyone is concerned with keeping their bodies fit and dodging between fast new technologies of damage." He fires at Lily and Conrad as they eat dinner at fashionable Le Corbusier, a restaurant which resembles an autopsy room in the morgue: "the tables are a frosty-looking aluminium, the walls are half mirror, half stainless steel". Six bullets later and the damage is done, Lily is dead and Conrad is nearly so.

The dissection really begins when Conrad comes out of hospital and begins investigating Lily's murder, his own near miss. The plot unfolds in short, sharp chapters, keen as knives. Toby Litt uses Conrad to provide an extra twist to the usual serpentine story. He has a morbid interest in the clinical details of the results of his injuries. He, like Litt, is very aware of the etiquette of cool violence, a cultural culling that takes in J F K succumbing to the "magic bullet", Bonnie and Clyde, The Godfather, and, of course, Reservoir Dogs. Corpsing is an interesting critique of our fondness for violence and death as entertainment, while cunningly providing us with all the gory details, the damage done. Clever, but a little soulless. --Eithne Farry

From the Publisher

CORPSING HAS ALREADY WON HUGE ACCLAIM
'Toby Litt is a really good writer. He will have you speeding through his latest - a noirish tale of murder, sex, revenge and adultery.' Time Out

'A thriller for our times, modern, sexy, full of twists and wickedly funny. Litt takes no hostages and he writes brilliantly...Corpsing is impressive.' Daily Mail

'a great evening in. Open the Chardonnay and let Litt take you on a thrilling ride from his Mortlake flat to the gents of a gangster pub in Bermondsey.' Observer

'Litt, one of the foremost young lions of British hip-lit, has a genuine appetite for pulp, and pulls off a remarkable crime debut which puts many veteran crimesters to shame...Corpsing has all the hallmarks of a cult book.' Guardian

'The screen rights to this devastatingly enjoyable novel have already been sold, and I cannot wait for the movie (Ewan McGregor and Jane Horrocks are my nominees for the roles.)' Daily Telegraph

'A chic, sharp shock of a thriller.' She

'Imaginative, eloquent and with an ear for the nuances of life, Toby Litt has produced a genuine page-turner of a thriller.' Daily Mirror

Edition details

• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
• Publication date: 2000
• ISBN 10: 0241140692
• ISBN 13: 9780241140697
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 384