'Vivid, visceral and breathtakingly ambitious, this is Self's best yet'

The Book of Dave is Self's most successful novel to date. Funny, frightening, moving'

'Epic and bitterly funny, this stew of satire and linguistic wizardry is everything you'd expect from Britain's master of misanthropy'

'Mindboggling ... darkly hilarious ... Self makes us look at ourselves; once again, he fills us with disquiet. A fascinating book.'

The Book of Dave is a misogynistic, racist, homophobic rant, written by a demented London cabbie, buried in November 2001 in the Hampstead garden of his hated ex-wife and addressed to the son he idealizes rather than fathers.

Several centures pass and, as sea levels rise, the only land left in central London becomes the isolated isle of Ham. There, the Six Families scratch a meagre living from the land. Their lives, however, are full of religion. For Dave's book has been disinterred and transformed into Holy Scripture. The peasants know his text by heart. The doctrines of Breakup and Changeover are rigid and absolute. Only one islander, Symun, remains incredulous. Rather than finding certainty in the Book and its Knowledge, he finds only questions. Desperate to discover answers, Symun embarks on an epic journey into the Forbidden Zone, and eventually to the terrifying heart of New London ...

Big, bold and dazzlingly inventive, Will Self's fifth novel is at once a profound meditation upon the nature of revealed religion, a love story, a caustic satire of contemporary urban life and a historical detective story set in the far future. A gripping read from start to finish, it proves there is at least one contemporary novelist prepared to take on the grand themes in the grand manner.

What if a demented London cabbie called Dave Rudman wrote a book to his estranged son to give him some fatherly advice? What if that book was buried in Hampstead and hundreds of years later, when rising sea levels have put London underwater, spawned a religion? What if one man decided to question life according to Dave? And, what if Dave had indeed made a mistake? Shuttling between the recent past and a far-off future where England is terribly altered, "The Book of Dave" is a strange and troubling mirror held up to our times: disturbing, satirizing and vilifying who and what we think we are.

2008-08-07 Fun and entertaining

This is the first ever Will Self book i ever read and I bought it on a whim!

The story takes place in modern-day London and the distant future where London and England have been desecrated by a large flood. In modern day London a cab driver named Dave meets Michelle in a chance meeting and they end up parenting a child together - Carl.

In the future a "Geezer" (religious man) living in his home island community of Ham seeks to change the established religious and social status quo when he finds the truth behind The Book and the knowledge contained within.

The following story unravels well and draws the reader into a completely new world, Dave and Michelle's relationship ends, badly, and forces Dave into a full on emotional break down when he writes a book and prints it on metal plates - Giving his lost son some "fatherly advice" it is this "consul" that is found on Ham and spawns a whole religion!

The two sides of the story play off each other excellently, although there is a large contrast that takes some getting used to, the book largely reads well, the slang used by the future people of London is playful but not too difficult to understand (although some people find it annoying, i thought it was worth getting my head round and there is a glossary to help).

If you like books that have abstract plots and if you want something that can make you think without being preachy this book will tickle your fancy - READ IT!