Overview

Written by a Booker Prize winning novelist, this is a hilarious tale about the extraordinary attempts sometimes made to get published. An author who has written a three thousand page novel can't get an agent, let alone a publisher, because his work is too long to read. He hijacks a publisher over the long Easter weekend and obliges him to sit and listen while he reads his novel aloud. The novel is played out on an inset stage and frighteningly reflects the duplicity of the publisher's own life. The author plays many parts, including psychiatrist, marriage broker and tireless cabdriver. The publisher is obliged to play himself in several roles. The author, the publisher, his wife and his mistress all play various roles on the inset stage. Over the course of the two acts, a relationship develops between the hijacker and his hostage. Sheer terror on the publisher's part dilutes to irritation and finally to a deep affection.