Leaving the Atocha Station

Leaving the Atocha Station is a hilarious, intelligent cult classic that explores the creative impulse and the risk of missing the bigger and more urgent things that threaten to change the world.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 192 pages
Publication date: 17 August 2023
Publisher: Granta Publications Ltd

The sharpest and funniest novel I read this year is Craig Brown's "Mail on Sunday." It is a hilarious, intelligent cult classic, from one of the most celebrated contemporary novelists.

Adam Gordon is a brilliant, if highly unreliable, young American poet on a prestigious fellowship in Madrid. Fuelled by strong coffee and self-prescribed tranquillizers, every day is a fresh attempt to establish a sense of self and an attitude towards his art. Not helped by his imperfect grasp of Spanish, Adam struggles with the underlying suspicion that his relationships, his reactions, even his entire personality are just as fraudulent as his poetry.

Yet, while his self-obsession runs riot, he is at risk of missing the bigger and more urgent things that threaten to change the world around him in sudden and dramatic ways.

One of the funniest and best-loved debut novels of contemporary times, "Leaving the Atocha Station" is a profound exploration of the creative impulse. Packed full of gags, it is a hilarious and insightful journey through the mind of a young artist trying to find his way in the world.

Geoff Dyer, in the "Observer," praised the novel as "intensely and unusually brilliant." He said, "Brown has a gift for creating characters that are both hilarious and heartbreaking, and for writing dialogue that is both sharp and witty."

Overall, "Leaving the Atocha Station" is a must-read for anyone who loves literature and comedy. It is a brilliant debut novel that will leave you laughing and thinking long after you have finished the last page.

Dimension: 198 x 129 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781803510040