England, England (Shortlisted For The Booker Prize)

Description: As every schoolboy knows, you can fit the whole of England on the Isle of White. Grotesque, visionary tycoon Sir Jack Pitman takes the saying literally and does exactly that. He constructs on the island 'The Project', a vast heritage centre containing everything 'English', from Big Ben to Stonehenge, from Manchester United to the white Cliffs of Dover. The project is monstrous, risky, and vastly successful. In fact, it gradually begins to rival 'Old' England and even threatens to supersede it...One of Barnes' finest and funniest novels, 'England, England' calls into question the idea of replicas, truth vs. fiction, reality vs. art, nationhood, myth-making, and self-exploration. Review: A brilliant, Swiftian fantasy Economist There is no more intelligent writer on the literary scene. In this novel, he is also moving. He has written nothing more poignant and enticing Sunday Times Not only a very funny satire about England and the world... He has also skilfully dissected the discomforting ways in which we have all grown to accept, and even depend on, illusion Wall Street Journal Runs at glorious full tilt...delightful stuff Independent Author Biography: Julian Barnes is the author of eight novels, including Metroland, Flaubert's Parrot, A History of the World in 10 Chapters, England, England and Love Etc., and two collections of short stories, Cross Channel and The Lemon Table.