Rancid Pansies
Condition: SECONDHAND
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The hero of this black farce of a book is Gerald Samper, camp as Christmas and a man with his mind on higher things than he has yet managed to reach. A ghost-writer to unbearable sports celebrities and rock stars, his dream is to write the libretto to an opera.
A sojourn in Suffolk ends in the death of an ancient aristocrat, thanks to a little mistake in the concoction of Gerry's field-mouse vol-au-vents. Returning to Tuscany, Gerry finds that the site of his collapsed house is now a place of pilgrimage, after the appearance of a strange apparition - a deceased English princess with great legs. A sinister estate agent smells a chance to make serious money, and Gerry is persuaded to go along with the scam in return for certain favours.
Meanwhile, Gerry is inspired to collaborate on an opera about the life of Princess Diana, the not-quite-saint who has inspired such strange devotion. The premiere will be the high point of his life, though not quite in the way he imagines .
Author: James Hamilton-Paterson
Format: Paperback, 272 pages, 138mm x 216mm
Published: 2008, Faber & Faber, United Kingdom
Genre: General & Literary Fiction
Description
The hero of this black farce of a book is Gerald Samper, camp as Christmas and a man with his mind on higher things than he has yet managed to reach. A ghost-writer to unbearable sports celebrities and rock stars, his dream is to write the libretto to an opera.
A sojourn in Suffolk ends in the death of an ancient aristocrat, thanks to a little mistake in the concoction of Gerry's field-mouse vol-au-vents. Returning to Tuscany, Gerry finds that the site of his collapsed house is now a place of pilgrimage, after the appearance of a strange apparition - a deceased English princess with great legs. A sinister estate agent smells a chance to make serious money, and Gerry is persuaded to go along with the scam in return for certain favours.
Meanwhile, Gerry is inspired to collaborate on an opera about the life of Princess Diana, the not-quite-saint who has inspired such strange devotion. The premiere will be the high point of his life, though not quite in the way he imagines .
Rancid Pansies