In a forensic dissection of Britain's souring landscape Gordon Burn tells the tale of Ray Cruddas, a light entertainer effecting a semi-dignified retreat from his fading career, who returns to the unnamed northern town of his youth.
'Burn carves a tale of mutual dependence between two also-rans - Ray, once a successful Geordie comedian, and Jackie, an almost made-it boxer . . . It is a book about ageing, about the long haul between what you hoped your life might be and the acceptance of what it is - and about the loneliness of men.' Anna Raeburn, Jewish Chronicle
- ISBN10 0571219373
- ISBN13 9780571219377
- Publish Date 4 March 2004 (first published 6 May 2003)
- Publish Status Active
- Out of Print 18 March 2024
- Publish Country GB
- Imprint Faber & Faber
- Edition Main
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 240
- Language English