Nicola Barker’s ribald and outrageous peep show of a novel is a caustic examination of the circus surrounding an illusionist’s starvation stunt.

On 5th September 2003, New York Illusionist David Blaine entered a small perspex box adjacent to the River Thames and commenced starving himself. Forty-four days later - on 19th October - he left the box, four stone lighter. That much, at least, is clear. And the rest? Nicola Barker bares the heart of our contemporary world, a world of illusion, delusion, celebrity and hunger.

Longlisted
The Man Booker Prize 2004
Published by
4th Estate
Publication date
Nicola Barker

Nicola Barker

About the Author

Nicola Barker was named as one of the 20 Best Young British Novelists by Granta in 2005. Her work has been translated into over a dozen languages.
More about Nicola Barker

Other nominated books by Nicola Barker

The Yips
Darkmans