Starcrossed

Description

A love story of destiny and desire, fame and fortune. A.A. Gill's first novel, SAP RISING, garnered a galaxy of reviews when it was published, from the enchanted 'Among the most original novels of the year' (Financial Times) to the hysterical 'Do not buy this book' (Guardian), from the delirious 'Extremely funny' (Time Out) to the outraged 'Frightful pile of garbage', to the contradictory 'He writes so brilliantly' (Daniel Farson, Evening Standard), 'Extremely badly written, hideously and unamusingly obscene' (A.N. Wilson, Evening Standard). It can reasonably be said that SAP RISING was one of the most visible books of the year. Now comes something equally striking and completely different- STARCROSSED. Like Byron, John Dart, poet and bookshop assistant, wakes up one morning and finds himself, if not quite famous, then the next best thing- in bed with someone famous. Lee Montana, singer, film star and the most famous woman in the world, wakes up one morning and finds she's had carnal knowledge of a shop assistant - which doesn't have quite the same exclamatory ring to it. Antigone doesn't wake up at all. She is a 2,000-year-old dead Greek girl with a truculent disposition and a bad dose of destiny. Tentatively, John and Lee embark on a sort of affair with three unequal partners- the two of them and Antigone's bitter shadow. Is fame the beauty parlour of the dead? Can the gods fall in love? Should a poet fuck with his muse? In his dazzling new novel A.A. Gill flirts with capricious destiny and hitchhikes on the boulevard of fate.

A.A. Gill was born in Edinburgh in 1954 and studied at the Slade School of Art. He is the restaurant and television critic for the Sunday Times. He is the author of two novels, Sap Rising and Starcrossed, and two restaurant biographies, The Ivy Cookbook and Le Caprice. He lives in London.

'His writing is like a nude by Lucien Freud: ugly, but human and true' * Mail on Sunday * 'Britain's funniest and least politically correct author' * Daily Mail * 'Captivating storytelling peppered with perceptive humour and the occasional philosophical gem. This is A.A. Gill at his best - funny and in full flight' * Sunday Business Post * 'Reverberates with low humour and lurid, extravagant sex...every page explodes with the gaudy colours of exotic metaphor' * Independent on Sunday * 'The wit and bravura are what one expects from him, but he has added a broader emotional range and engaging characters' * Observer *