The Adulterants
Published on 8. February 2018
Book
Hardback
192 pages
978-0-241-30547-8 (ISBN)
Description
Fresh, sharp and wickedly funny, a tragicomic tale of modern living from the author of Submarine
Ray is not a bad guy. He mostly did not cheat on his heavily pregnant wife. He only sometimes despises every one of his friends. And though his career as a freelance tech journalist is dismal and he spends his afternoons churning out third-rate listicles in his boxer briefs, he dreams of making a difference. But Ray is about to learn that his special talent is for making things worse.
Brace yourself for a wickedly funny look at the modern everyman. The Adulterants is an uproarious tale of competitively sensitive men and catastrophic open marriages, riots on the streets of London and Internet righteousness, and one man's valiant quest to come of age in his thirties. With lacerating wit and wry affection, Joe Dunthorne dissects the urban millennial psyche of a man too old to be an actual millennial.
Ray is not a bad guy. He mostly did not cheat on his heavily pregnant wife. He only sometimes despises every one of his friends. And though his career as a freelance tech journalist is dismal and he spends his afternoons churning out third-rate listicles in his boxer briefs, he dreams of making a difference. But Ray is about to learn that his special talent is for making things worse.
Brace yourself for a wickedly funny look at the modern everyman. The Adulterants is an uproarious tale of competitively sensitive men and catastrophic open marriages, riots on the streets of London and Internet righteousness, and one man's valiant quest to come of age in his thirties. With lacerating wit and wry affection, Joe Dunthorne dissects the urban millennial psyche of a man too old to be an actual millennial.
Reviews / Votes
There is a chortle-inducing moment on almost every page... Dunthorne is not only one of contemporary fiction's funniest voices but also one of its most generous and perceptive * The Irish Times * Dunthorne is a superbly economical writer... He is also properly funny. There are several snort-through-your-nose moments. But throughout, the novel's comedy is always balanced by insight and poignancy * Observer * The Adulterants is thrust-the-book-at-the-person-next-to-you hilarious * New Statesman * Joe Dunthorne is one of our best young writers * Metro * Bristles with a deliciously sour, dyspeptic humour and is excellent at skewering the lifestyle habits of a liberal-minded middle-class * Daily Mail * Perfectly formed... a pin-sharp skewering of a certain type of modern urban thirtysomething male, trapped in a protracted adolescent state. It's one not to be missed * Bookseller * The Adulterants, from its punning title onwards, is brilliantly knowing about its knowingness. It knows the only way we'll tolerate a narrator as annoying as Ray is to punish him for the very virtues that make him a good narrator - nosiness and eloquence * Guardian * A sharp satire of contemporary London and the modern urban male * Tatler * Blisteringly funny and brimming with caustic charm - a joyous diagnosis of our modern ills that made me laugh out loud even when it was breaking my heart * Paul Murray * Dark, beautifully wry, and side-splittingly excruciating, The Adulterants is a triumph of voice and vision * Tea Obreht * A tale of modern manhood, full of malaise, melancholy and wryly funny observations * S Magazine * A richly illuminating comedy of disappointment, uproarious and mournful, that places Joe Dunthorne triumphantly in the tradition of Evelyn Waugh and (that other Swansea resident) Kingsley Amis. A deft, brilliant, surprising joyride * The Art Desk * Joe Dunthorne's new book is a pleasure - I was very fortunate to get to read his book Submarine early and reading this one was equally thrilling. I owe him a great deal ( but refuse to repay him) * Richard Ayoade * Smartly written, The Adulterants riffs on London's housing crisis, competitively sensitive men and social media with wry insight * Book Riot * A creation of some genius. Dunthorne is a naturally comic writer * Daily Telegraph on 'Wild Abandon' * Publisher's Description: Thirty-something freelance tech journalist Ray hates his job, resents his more successful friends, is terrified of the London property ladder, and has just accidently cheated on his pregnant girlfriend. But no matter how bad life seems, he's about to learn that things can always get worse... From the comic genius behind Submarine comes a hilariously scathing new novel about modern life * Penguin * Dunthorne captures the mores of Britain today better than novelists twice his age * New Statesman on'Submarine' * Brilliant and laugh-out-loud enjoyable * Independent on 'Submarine' * Insightful comic writing that manages to be both tender and biting * Independent on Sunday on 'Wild Abandon' * A brilliant first novel by a young man of ferocious comic talent * The Times on 'Submarine' *More details
Language
English
Place of publication
London
United Kingdom
Publishing group
Penguin Books Ltd
Dimensions
Height: 222 mm
Width: 138 mm
ISBN-13
978-0-241-30547-8 (9780241305478)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions
Person
Joe Dunthorne was born and brought up in Swansea. He is the author of Submarine, which has been translated into fifteen languages and made into an acclaimed film directed by Richard Ayoade, and Wild Abandon, which won the 2012 Encore Award. A collection of his poetry is published as Faber New Poets 5. Joe Dunthorne lives in London and The Adulterants is his third novel.
www.joedunthorne.com
www.joedunthorne.com