Shuttlecock

　　Prentis, senior clerk in the 'dead crimes' department of police archives, is becoming more and more confused. Alienated from his wife and children, and obsessed by his father, a wartime hero now the mute inmate of a mental hospital, Prentis feels increasingly unsettled as his enigmatic boss, Mr Quinn, turns his investigation towards him - and his father. Gradually Prentis suspects that his father's breakdown and Quinn's menacing behavior are connected and the link is to be found in his father's memoirs, "Shuttlecock". 'Excellent, profound' - Alan Hollinghurst, "London Review of Books". 'An astonishing study of forms of guilt, laced with a thread of detection, and puckering now and then into outrageous humor' - "Sunday Times". 'A superbly written claustrophobic account of power that corrupts private and public life and of guilt that becomes obsession' - "Daily Telegraph". 'Swift's central strength as a writer is his integrity. Story and character are treated with a seriousness and respect that while allowing for the oddity of human behavior - "Shuttlecock" is thoroughly and beautifully odd - always honors them' - "Times Literary Supplement". 'Serious, moving and often very funny indeed' - "Observer".

作者簡介

Graham Swift

　　Graham Swift was born in 1949 and is the author of eight acclaimed novels and a collection of short stories; his most recent work is Making an Elephant, a book of essays, portraits, poetry and reflections on his life in writing. With Waterland he won the Guardian Fiction Prize (1983), and with Last Orders the Booker Prize (1996). Both novels have since been made into films. Graham Swift's work has appeared in over thirty languages.