Martin Amis

discusses

Lionel Asbo:
State of England

THIS EVENT IS NOW SOLD OUT

This event includes a book signing

Date

Sep
7
Friday
September 7, 2012
6:00 PM ET

Location

Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138

Tickets

SOLD OUT. View our Sold Out Event FAQ.

Harvard Book Store is pleased to welcome novelist MARTIN AMIS for a discussion of his new book, Lionel Asbo: State of England.

Lionel Asbo, a terrifying yet weirdly loyal thug (self-named after England's notorious Anti-Social Behaviour Order), has always looked out for his ward and nephew, the orphaned Desmond Pepperdine. He provides him with fatherly career advice (always carry a knife, for example) and is determined they should share the joys of pit bulls (fed with lots of Tabasco sauce), Internet porn, and all manner of more serious criminality. Des, on the other hand, desires nothing more than books to read and a girl to love (and to protect a family secret that could be the death of him). But just as he begins to lead a gentler, healthier life, his uncle—once again in a London prison—wins £140 million in the lottery and upon his release hires a public relations firm and begins dating a cannily ambitious topless model and “poet.” Strangely, however, Lionel's true nature remains uncompromised while his problems, and therefore also Desmond's, seem only to multiply.

"A joy—and strangely life-affirming. . . . It certainly has much of the dazzling prose that made his earlier works so stand-out. As ever he makes the dreadful funny, the grotesque poetic. But there's something else, a tenderness and humanity. . . Amis seems to have affection for all his characters [in what] could be seen as a meditation on social mobility. . . . Though it satirises a society in decline it is also, in the end, a story about the triumph of education over ignorance, love over hate." —The Times [U.K.]

Martin Amis
Martin Amis

Martin Amis

Martin Amis is the author of eleven previous novels, the memoir Experience, and two collections of stories and six of nonfiction. He lives in London.

Photo Credit: Christopher Anderson/Magnum Photos

This event is now sold out.

$5 tickets are also coupons good for $5 off a purchase at events or at Harvard Book Store. Coupons expire 30 days after the event, and cannot be used for online purchases, event tickets, or gift certificates. Please note that your ticket only guarantees you a seat until five minutes before an event begins.

Brattle Theatre
40 Brattle St., Cambridge, MA 02138

Walking from the Harvard Square T station: 10 minutes

As you exit the station, cross Mass. Ave. and proceed along Brattle St. Follow Brattle St. as it curves to the right in Brattle Square (follow the sidewalk on the right side of the street). The Brattle will be on the left-hand side of the street. The building is shared with Algiers Cafe and Alden & Harlow Restaurant, and the theatre entrance is on the left side of the building—look for the sidewalk poster case and marquee.

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