{"product_id":"the-mark-and-the-void-9780241953860","title":"The Mark and the Void","description":"\u003cb\u003eBook Synopsis\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWINNER OF THE EVERYMAN WODEHOUSE PRIZE 2016\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA comic masterpiece about love, art, greed and the banking crisis, from the author of \u003ci\u003eSkippy Dies\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/b\u003eWhat links the Investment Bank of Torabundo, www.myhotswaitress.com (yes, \u003ci\u003ehots \u003c\/i\u003ewith an s, don''t ask), an art heist, a novel called For the Love of a Clown, a four-year-old boy named after TV detective Remington Steele, a lonely French banker, a tiny Pacific island, and a pest control business run by an ex-KGB man? You guessed it . . . \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mark and the Void\u003c\/i\u003e is Paul Murray''s madcap new novel of institutional folly, following the success of his wildly original breakout hit, \u003ci\u003eSkippy Dies\u003c\/i\u003e. While marooned at his banking job in the bewilderingly damp and insular realm known as Ireland, Claude Martingale is approached by a down-on-his-luck author, Paul, looking for his next great subject. Claude finds that his life gets steadily more exciting under Paul''s fictionalizing influence; he even falls in love with a beautiful waitress. But Paul''s plan is not what it seems-and neither is Claude''s employer, the Bank of Torabundo, which inflates through dodgy takeovers and derivatives-trading until-well, you can probably guess how that shakes out.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mark and the Void\u003c\/i\u003e is a stirring examination of the deceptions carried out in the names of art, love and commerce - and is also probably the funniest novel ever written about a financial crisis.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTrade Review\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThis novel's arrival deserves a trumpeting fanfare... curiously brilliant, intricately entertaining... \u003cb\u003ebanker plus struggling novelist equals page turner\u003c\/b\u003e * Sunday Independent *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mark and the Void\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003eso sensationally good\u003c\/b\u003e...it takes the global financial crisis by its throat, and shakes it into giving birth to a \u003cb\u003ewild, intelligent, angry, witty, uproariously funny, devastating\u003c\/b\u003e novel -- Neel Mukherjee\u003cbr\u003ePeople always tell me \u003cb\u003e'If you love Paul Murray so much, why don't you marry him?'\u003c\/b\u003e Now thanks to recent legislation in his native Ireland, I finally can. And so should you, reader. \u003ci\u003eThe Mark and the Void\u003c\/i\u003e not only monetizes the death of the novel, but makes us believe in its resurrection. Praise the Lord for Paul Murray's big brain and tender heart -- Gary Shteyngart\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mark and the Void\u003c\/i\u003e is just as funny [as \u003ci\u003eSkippy Dies\u003c\/i\u003e] , though perhaps with an even deeper sense of alienation at its heart * Independent *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eEffervescent prose\u003c\/b\u003e... [It] takes on the crackle of a thriller [and] wears its anger over the global financial crisis with a \u003cb\u003ebeguilingly, deceptively light touch\u003c\/b\u003e * Metro *\u003cbr\u003ePaul Murray has done the impossible: he's written a novel about international finance that is \u003cb\u003ea hilarious page-turner with a beating human heart\u003c\/b\u003e -- Adam Wilson, author of 'Flatscreen'\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Mark and the Void\u003c\/i\u003e is Murray's best book yet - a \u003cb\u003ewildly ambitious, state-of-the-nation novel\u003c\/b\u003e, and a\u003cb\u003e scabrously funny yet deeply humane\u003c\/b\u003e satire on the continuing fall-out of the biggest financial crisis in 75 years. Think \u003ci\u003eBonfire of the Vanities\u003c\/i\u003e with a heart * The Bookseller *","brand":"Penguin Books Ltd","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":48733371597143,"sku":"9780241953860","price":9.99,"currency_code":"GBP","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0817\/1739\/5799\/files\/9780241953860.jpg?v=1719999956","url":"https:\/\/bookcurl.com\/products\/the-mark-and-the-void-9780241953860","provider":"Book Curl","version":"1.0","type":"link"}