Something Like A House (Winner Of Whitbread Prize (1st Novel

Description:
This is Jim Fraser's story: an incredible, often chilling account of his life as an army deserter living through the terrible upheavals of the Cultural Revolution, when China descended into a moral and physical chaos so extreme that cannibalism became, for some, the only way of survival. Unable to speak the language and totally ignorant of local customs, Jim Fraser makes his home in a community so isolated that even the Cultural Revolution impinges little on the ways of the villagers. Except that the village's very isolation has made it the perfect location for experiments of sheer, indescribable terror ...'I suspect this book will be compared with 'Robinson Crusoe' (the outsider building his own abode) and 'Lord of the Flies' (the long-term effects of context on individual mortality). It is a profound and sophisticated work of fiction' - 'Observer'.

Review:
'I suspect this book will be compared with Robinson Crusoe (the outsider building his own abode) and Lord of the Flies (the long-term effects of context on individual mortality). It is a profound and sophisticated work of fiction' Observer

Prizes:
Winner of Whitbread Book Awards: First Novel Category 2001.
Winner of Whitbread Prize (First Novel) 2001.
Winner of James Tait Black Memorial Book Prizes: Fiction 2002.

Author Biography:
Sid Smith is a journlist now working as a sub-editor on a national newspaper. He spent his early working life as a dustman, docker, builder's labourer and railway worker before moving into journalism full-time. He lives in London and is currently at work on his second novel.