The Information (Vintage International) by Amis, Martin

Fame, envy, lust, violence, intrigues literary and criminal-they're all here in The Information, as one of the most gifted and innovative novelists of our time explores the question, How does one writer hurt another writer?"Satirical and tender, funny and disturbing...wonderful." -The New York Times"A portrait of middle-age realignment with more verbal felicity and unbridled reach than [anything] since Tom Wolfe forged Bonfire of the Vanities." -Houston ChronicleRichard Tull, a frustrated, failed novelist, stews with envy and humiliation at the success of his oldest friend, Gwyn Barry, who is a darling of book buyers, award committees, and TV interviewers. He's a terrible writer, but that doesn't comfort Tull as he sinks deeper into the sub-basement of literary obscurity. The only way out of this predicament, Tull believes, is to plot the demise of Barry-to gather the information that will lead to his downfall. Meanwhile, both men are being watched by a psychopathic ex-con and a young thug, who have staked out their homes, watching their wives and Richard's small twin boys, waiting until the time is right...Amis is at his savage best in what has been hailed as one of his greatest books, full of wicked humor and exquisitely turned, cutthroat sentences, "never out of reach of a sparkly phrase, stiletto metaphor or drop-dead insight into the human condition," as the critic Christopher Buckley put it. This is a mesmerizing and entertaining novel of midlife crisis and male friendship, of our brutal culture of fame and fortune and too much information. "The Information contains some of the most pleasantly wicked passages Amis ever written." (San Franciso Chronicle)