Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Publisher Unknown (2016)
Description
The thing about the truth is; it doesn't get out much...Colin Jekyll is an 'Events Manager'. And a liar. Colin's real name is Frank Canon, and his real job title is 'Reality Enforcer'. And the lies don't stop there; they only get bigger.Canon works for the Agency, protecting the status quo. A multilingual lone wolf with an unreliable history and a fear of flying, Canon covers up continuity errors; those inexplicable events most other people call 'miracles'. He adjusts outbreaks of clairvoyance and drunken weather, weeping statues and spontaneous dancing plagues before they become common knowledge, and before people begin to panic, because people's faith in consensus reality needs to be enforced. Fortunately for Frank and the Agency, most people are naturally suspicious of the truth.… (more)
User reviews
LibraryThing member spbooks
Just couldn't get into this. Not my style of humour -- it just didn't seem funny to me. I was hoping for a much more focused satire on miracles, but it felt like I had to wade through too much irrelevance to get it. Gave up on it.
LibraryThing member HarryWhitewolf
This book was right up my street. It’s very funny, intelligently written and lots of fun. It also has plenty of depth in between the lines, commenting on: believing what we’re told to believe, propaganda tactics, human stupidity, common sense, and philosophical notions of perception and
In a world where miracles are more than common, in a world where miracles can be the most absurd things imagined (like drunken weather or a bandwagon vehicle suddenly appearing on the Hollywood sign), in a world which is all around us all the time, there has to be someone to clear up the mess and fool us into thinking the miracles aren’t so. Enter Frank Canon, Reality Enforcer, who works for a mysterious agency, to sort out all the plot holes and loose ends of stories that could be straight out of the old tabloid newspaper The Daily Sport (which had infamous headlines like: “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” and “Statue of Elvis Found on Moon”.) In fact, I strongly suspect Simon Campbell was a journalist for that paper, or he’s a double agent Reality Enforcer himself.
The way the story begins with commentary on things like the word ‘miracle’ being used in the press and by people on a daily basis for things which aren’t at all miraculous reminded me a little of the start of Bruce Robinson’s How To Get Ahead In Advertising, but both stories then veer off into different directions – but if you like stuff like Robinson’s, you are sure to like this.
When I consider that this is a debut, I feel like it’s even more worthy of my praise. Sure, I had little niggles with it at times: I felt like the pace of the actual story was a little slow to begin with (despite each page being a joy to read) and I felt the unfolding story was perhaps just a little too complicated and rushed towards the end (despite me loving the complete mad-capped nature of the crazy last few chapters, where anything that can happen probably will happen), but these are the most minor of criticisms and are only noticeable because the rest of it’s so damn good.
This is a book that can make you pause and reflect on human nature, belief systems, quantum realities and propaganda, but most of all it’s just damn good fun. And funny. Really funny. You even get a Chinese Tom Hanks impersonator who’s referred to as Chanks.
My favourite quotes were:
"Atheism was founded on a faith in something that couldn't be seen. Atheists referred to this intangible individual that they didn't believe in as 'God'. But there was currently no hard evidence for the non-existence of God. Atheism was like one of those irrational beliefs that atheists are always up in arms about."
And: “Brigadier General Sir Rufus Moribund was on TV denying these wild accusations: 'We strongly refute the allegation that secret British forces have killed anyone in Baghdad by means of man-eating badger'."
I can’t wait to see what Mr. Campbell will come up with next. Bravo.
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reality. But mostly, it’s just really funny. Not only is it really funny, it also feels like a book that should have already been written but hasn’t been until now; the premise has that classic feel to it.In a world where miracles are more than common, in a world where miracles can be the most absurd things imagined (like drunken weather or a bandwagon vehicle suddenly appearing on the Hollywood sign), in a world which is all around us all the time, there has to be someone to clear up the mess and fool us into thinking the miracles aren’t so. Enter Frank Canon, Reality Enforcer, who works for a mysterious agency, to sort out all the plot holes and loose ends of stories that could be straight out of the old tabloid newspaper The Daily Sport (which had infamous headlines like: “Freddie Starr Ate My Hamster” and “Statue of Elvis Found on Moon”.) In fact, I strongly suspect Simon Campbell was a journalist for that paper, or he’s a double agent Reality Enforcer himself.
The way the story begins with commentary on things like the word ‘miracle’ being used in the press and by people on a daily basis for things which aren’t at all miraculous reminded me a little of the start of Bruce Robinson’s How To Get Ahead In Advertising, but both stories then veer off into different directions – but if you like stuff like Robinson’s, you are sure to like this.
When I consider that this is a debut, I feel like it’s even more worthy of my praise. Sure, I had little niggles with it at times: I felt like the pace of the actual story was a little slow to begin with (despite each page being a joy to read) and I felt the unfolding story was perhaps just a little too complicated and rushed towards the end (despite me loving the complete mad-capped nature of the crazy last few chapters, where anything that can happen probably will happen), but these are the most minor of criticisms and are only noticeable because the rest of it’s so damn good.
This is a book that can make you pause and reflect on human nature, belief systems, quantum realities and propaganda, but most of all it’s just damn good fun. And funny. Really funny. You even get a Chinese Tom Hanks impersonator who’s referred to as Chanks.
My favourite quotes were:
"Atheism was founded on a faith in something that couldn't be seen. Atheists referred to this intangible individual that they didn't believe in as 'God'. But there was currently no hard evidence for the non-existence of God. Atheism was like one of those irrational beliefs that atheists are always up in arms about."
And: “Brigadier General Sir Rufus Moribund was on TV denying these wild accusations: 'We strongly refute the allegation that secret British forces have killed anyone in Baghdad by means of man-eating badger'."
I can’t wait to see what Mr. Campbell will come up with next. Bravo.
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LibraryThing member PeterMarney
I’m afraid I just couldn’t get on with this novel and only managed four chapters due to its style.
The closest analogy I can find is receiving a rather attractive plate of food and eagerly digging in. The first few bites start to deliver but the dish never really fulfils its promise. The author
Perhaps I was impatient and it’s a slow starter but I just didn’t care enough about either the plot or the main character to want to keep reading which is a shame as I feel this writer has a talent.
The closest analogy I can find is receiving a rather attractive plate of food and eagerly digging in. The first few bites start to deliver but the dish never really fulfils its promise. The author
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seems to be having fun in a surrealist sort of way and enjoys playing with language but never quite seems to develop any real depth to his writing or to the plot. Perhaps I was impatient and it’s a slow starter but I just didn’t care enough about either the plot or the main character to want to keep reading which is a shame as I feel this writer has a talent.
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LibraryThing member zottel
A nice one. Often very funny, with lots of wordplay, very sarcastic, often saddeningly true.
The protagonist works for an agency that "fixes" continuity errors by covering up the truth. While that idea is not exactly ingenious, it's still a nice setting with many unusual possibilities to explore.
And the author does. This book is far away from the usual story, features numerous laughs and well thought-through philosophy about mankind's relation to the truth.
But it's also a bit boring. The story feels like a Terry Pratchett novel: Funny, but thin. The joke, and in this case, the take-home message, seems more important than the story itself. I understood (and applauded, for that matter) what the author has to say when he first did that, all those repeats wouldn't have been necessary.
But still, I liked the book. Wonderfully absurd, and with a message that is worth thinking about.
The protagonist works for an agency that "fixes" continuity errors by covering up the truth. While that idea is not exactly ingenious, it's still a nice setting with many unusual possibilities to explore.
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And the author does. This book is far away from the usual story, features numerous laughs and well thought-through philosophy about mankind's relation to the truth.
But it's also a bit boring. The story feels like a Terry Pratchett novel: Funny, but thin. The joke, and in this case, the take-home message, seems more important than the story itself. I understood (and applauded, for that matter) what the author has to say when he first did that, all those repeats wouldn't have been necessary.
But still, I liked the book. Wonderfully absurd, and with a message that is worth thinking about.
Show Less
LibraryThing member Euryale
This book is a satirical romp following a British civil servant whose job it is to adjust miracles and other problems in the continuity of reality by either discrediting them as hoaxes or covering them up with realistic fake explanations. He and his intern/trainee have to diffuse a 'continuity
The humor style is absurdism with a side of puns and joke character names; there are many genuinely funny moments, but sometimes the puns are telegraphed. The characters are flat, but that's fine in a satire; they worked like they needed to. The writing dabbles in, but doesn't fully commit to, metafiction; I think I would have liked it better if it had. The biggest downside was the ending, which needed some more editing or plotting or something.
Overall this is a fast-paced, mostly funny examination of unbelievable truths, well-intended lies, and the public as a whole's gullibility. I will say, the current real-world discussions about fake news, echo chambers, consensus reality, and who is/isn't serving public interest made reading this book even more weird and funny than the author could have hoped. This book definitely benefits from the timing of its publication.
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error' that is generating a cult following before the case gets turned over to another, more ruthless and ambitious reality adjuster.The humor style is absurdism with a side of puns and joke character names; there are many genuinely funny moments, but sometimes the puns are telegraphed. The characters are flat, but that's fine in a satire; they worked like they needed to. The writing dabbles in, but doesn't fully commit to, metafiction; I think I would have liked it better if it had. The biggest downside was the ending, which needed some more editing or plotting or something.
Overall this is a fast-paced, mostly funny examination of unbelievable truths, well-intended lies, and the public as a whole's gullibility. I will say, the current real-world discussions about fake news, echo chambers, consensus reality, and who is/isn't serving public interest made reading this book even more weird and funny than the author could have hoped. This book definitely benefits from the timing of its publication.
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LibraryThing member jjmcgaffey
Not for me. I generally like books described as surreal - it's shorthand for "not obvious" - but this one went way too far out. I got as far as the Bishop in Australia and decided I didn't like anyone here - especially the narrator ("I'm a liar, believe me") and didn't want to spend any more time
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with this. Show Less
LibraryThing member tommygon
I'm not a big fan of this genre. However, this book was readable. I would not refuse to read if in a pinch or if there was nothing more interesting lying nearby.
LibraryThing member Nightwing
A very fun read. When miracles happen, the public memory of them is not always what it should be. So there are people who fix things, adding info or removing data - whatever it takes to make the story "right".
LibraryThing member Spencer28
I received a copy of this book through the Early Reviewers program, and I tried, really tried, to read it. The book description had promise but I just couldn't into this story. It just seemed to be a collection of random vignettes that jumped back and forth. If you like Douglas Adams-wannabes, you
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may enjoy this book better than I did. Show Less
Original publication date
2016
DDC/MDS
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