Kansas in August
A witty, bawdy 1980s story of love and abandonment
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- 25,00 kr
Publisher Description
Patrick Gale's second novel KANSAS IN AUGUST is a witty, warm 1980s story of sexuality, musicals, bedsits and an abandoned child
'Modern, excellent and sympathetic' Stephen Fry
Hilary Metcalfe is obsessed with musicals, and abandoned on his birthday by his lover Rufus on his birthday, he gets drunk, discovers a baby and brings it home to his flat above a corner shop to provide comfort and company.
Rufus, meanwhile, allows himself to be seduced by a frivolous young woman, who is romancing under a pseudonym to escape the reality of her own loneliness.
In this witty, bawdy slice of sex and lies, the trio will find themselves drawn together ever more tightly by the lures of hedonism, self-delusion and the inescapable desire to be needed.
What readers admired about KANSAS IN AUGUST:
'He has a great gift of involving his readers with his characters. You care about them' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'As always with novels from Patrick Gale, this is beautifully written with characters you become involved with and care about' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
'I love anything by Patrick Gale. His earlier books are worth reading' ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Another very funny, drily British novel by the author of Ease and The Aerodynamics of Pork. Hilary Metcalfe, an English teacher addicted to American musical comedy recordings, celebrates his 25th birthday alone, his gorgeous bisexual lover Rufus having stood him up. In an inebriated state, Hilary discovers an abandoned infant in the subway and takes the baby home to his seedy West London digs above an Indian grocery. Meanwhile, Rufus, unfortunately detained in a female student's bed, steps out of it and almost at once into the arms of Hilary's sister Henry (for Henrietta), a psychiatrist rarely impressed by masculine charm. As the baby wraps his fingers more and more tightly around Hilary's heart, he comes under the ever-watchful eye of his landlord's adoring adolescent daughter, who has made a shrine of his every discarded envelope and wornout shoelace. Now Sumitra recognizes Hilary's true divinity: he is a father who bears his own child, a Prince God. The bawdy narrative strands are cleverly woven together with witty and urbane dialogue and piquant characterization, so that the reader is thoroughly absorbed in this irreverent tour de force.
