Jack Proctor, a celebrated older writer and curmudgeon, goes off to
residency where he is to be an honored part of teaching and giving
public readings, he soon finds the atmosphere of the literary world has
changed since his last foray into the public sphere. Unknown to most,
unable to work on his own writing, surrounded by a host of odd
characters, would-be writers, antagonists, handlers, and members of the
elite House of Art and Aesthetics, Proctor finds himself driven to
distraction (literally in a very very tiny car). This is a story of a
man attempting not to go mad when forced to stop his own writing in
order to coach others to write. Proctor's tour of rural places, pubs,
theaters, fancy parties, where he is to be headlining as a
"Banker-Prize-Winning-Author" reads like a literary version of Spinal
Tap. Uproariously funny, brilliantly philosophical, gorgeously written
this is James Kelman at his best.