Baber's Apple - Softcover

Marr, Michael

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0955109418 ISBN 13: 9780955109416

Publisher: PaperBooks Publishing, 2006

Yes, it's a battlefield out there! Baber Mittough's life takes an unexpected turn, as he is catapulted from leafy suburbia to the murky alphabet soup of Kazakhstan's underworld. This dark, comic tale unfolds as engineer Baber is sold by his employer to a questionable Kazakhstan businessman. When the irresistible Irena, and two ageing hippies, who just might be Baber's absentee parents, befriend Baber, he begins to suspect his new job isn't quite all it seems. Things start to go wrong when Baber unwittingly stumbles into a world of deceit and treachery and it becomes clear he is getting a little too close to the truth.

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Review:

Astute, fun and energetic! (Fay Weldon)

Marr's wit, crazy intelligence and daring suggest a career ripe with promise. (The Independent)

Rich, lyrical, inventive, witty, a superb first novel that buzzes with energy! (Gerard Woodward)

From the Publisher:

Review for Baber's Apple
Baber Mittough (which rhymes with sabre ditto) lives with his grandmother
and works as an engineer at a heavy engineering plant. Abandoned as a child
by his hippy parents, he isn't quite right in the head. Whatever the
problem is, the reader can only every guess at - helped from time to time
by the voice of Beulah, a kind of imaginary friend who doubles up as an
omniscient narrator as long as Baber isn't doing anything too personal.
At Baber's nan's birthday party he becomes acquainted with Sita, a young
Indian woman he accidentally invited along after a chance meeting on a
commuter train. They develop a relationship frowned on by both Baber's
revoltingly racist neighbours and Sita's politically active brother.
Shortly afterwards, Baber's boss introduces him to a businessman from
Kazakhstan who wants to buy some machinery. The deal is closed, but not
before Baber has been sold on to the Kazakhstani along with the machine so
he can help with its installation. Before he leaves, he goes on a picnic
with Sita and a young black Christian woman. The three of them spend an
afternoon watching a cricket match during which Norman Tebbit is derided
and Neville Cardus gets quoted. Eventually, Baber flies off to Kazakhstan
where, unsurprisingly, the deal hatched by his boss rapidly implodes.
Some parts of this book don't work - Baber's kooky relationship with Sita
is awkward and contrived - but Marr's wit, crazy intelligence and daring
suggest a career ripe with promise - The Independent

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