Caret

<p><i>‘We make lazy assumptions about the centre of things and its location. Who’s to say that the centre of things isn’t in a corner, way over there?’<br><br>‘People in authority are always saying you should know your rights, though I’ve noticed they don’t much enjoy it when you do.’<br><br>‘Nobody can be a person twenty-fours hours a day – it just can’t be done. At night the sets dissolve and the performance falls away… We’re off the books.’<br></i> <br><b>That’s John Cromer talking, in this fresh instalment of his lifelong saga. For John, embarking on a new stage of life in 1970s Cambridge, charm and wit aren''t just assets, they are survival skills. It may be a case of John against the world. If so, don’t be in too much of a hurry to bet on the world.<br><br>Conjuring a remarkable voice and mind, <i>Caret </i>is a feast of a novel, served on a succession of small plates, each portion providing an adult’s daily intake of literary nourishment. Reading it – like any encounter with John Cromer -- is guaranteed to help you work, rest and play.<br></b><br>''Thank god for John Cromer and his creator Adam Mars-Jones, one of the funniest, most self-aware characters in English fiction, whose minute observations on everything from constipation to lust are a source of unexpected delight.'' Linda Grant</p>