This vivid and strikingly witty novel examines the contradictions
between the public face and the private experience. Nephew to the prime
minister of England, eighteen-year-old Bert tries to make sense of the
grown-up world around him, a colorful crowd of television personalities,
politicians, young Trotskyites, pop stars, and eccentric relatives. With
the help of his laconic psychoanalyst, Bert questions the relation
between exterior and interior reality, while Mosley himself questions
art's ability to convey these different realities. Both Bert and Mosley
triumph over these challenges by the end of this engaging and innovative
novel.