Bestseller

Alma Books founder Gallenzi%E2%80%99s send-up of the British book world strikes home in the details but rarely penetrates the surface. Dogged writer Jim Talbot is willing to do anything to get published, and over the course of the novel, he does: lying, stealing, cheating, and killing%E2%80%94or at least trying to kill. When his roommates kick him out, he moves back in with his cancer-stricken mother, whose money he has been diverting for several years into his own account in lieu of paying her taxes and medical bills. He then pretends to be a literary agent shopping a scandalous memoir, gaining connections faster than he can write the nonexistent manuscript that he has sold. Meanwhile, after old-fashioned publisher Dr. Charles Randall gets fired from Tetragon, the small press to which he%E2%80%99s devoted his life, he discovers a 15-year-old manuscript by a deceased friend whose work is back in vogue%E2%80%94and decides to take revenge on Tetragon by starting his own imprint. As Jim and Charles grow ever more desperate in their respective attempts at literary success, Gallenzi%E2%80%99s (Interrail) satire devolves into absurdity, which is entertaining despite falling a bit flat. Agent: Tim Bates, Pollinger, Ltd. (Oct.)