This novel is entirely a work of fiction. The names, characters and incidents portrayed in it are the work of the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental.
The Borough Press
An imprint of HarperCollinsPublishers
1 London Bridge Street
London SE1 9GF
First published in Great Britain by HarperCollinsPublishers 2012
Copyright © Lionel Shriver 2012
Lionel Shriver asserts the moral right to be identified as the author of this work
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Source ISBN: 9780007459919
Ebook Edition © June 2012 ISBN: 9780007459926
Version: 2017-05-04
All rights reserved under International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions. By payment of the required fees, you have been granted the non-exclusive, non-transferable right to access and read the text of this e-book on-screen. No part of this text may be reproduced, transmitted, down-loaded, decompiled, reverse engineered, or stored in or introduced into any information storage and retrieval system, in any form or by any means, whether electronic or mechanical, now known or hereinafter invented, without the express written permission of HarperCollins e-books
To Sarowitz, of course—
a solo dedication being long overdue
My experiences with journalists authorize me to record that a very large number of them are ignorant, lazy, opinionated, intellectually dishonest, and inadequately supervised … They have huge power, and many of them are extremely reckless.
— CONRAD BLACK
Political language … is designed to make lies sound truthful and murder respectable, and to give an appearance of solidity to pure wind.
— GEORGE ORWELL
CONTENTS
7. Edgar Meets His New Little Friends
8. Ninety-Nine Push-Ups and Cloudberry Shampoo
12. Edgar Meets Baby Serious and Debuts at the Barking Rat
13. A Brief Apprenticeship as an Ignorant Dipshit
14. No Trace Found of Reporter in Terrorist Stronghold
16. A Whiff of the Old Bastard Himself
17. Playing Hard to Get with a British Accent
25. Portugal Denies Immigration Overhaul Is SOB Appeasement
26. Every Former Fat Boy’s Dream
27. Friend of the Fucking Family
29. Stealing Shit from Shitheads