A Stranger in the Earth - Tapa dura

"Marcel Theroux already has his own voice and he can pull off that difficult feat, the comic first novel. . . . Switching between farce and some touching observations about the suburbs and city life, Theroux is a natural storyteller."-Publishing News (London) "A genuine comic debut . . . the humor does not obliterate a graceful comic style."-The Times (London)"First impressions of this debut novel are matched by fine traditional skills in writing, wit, and invention."-Daily Mail on Sunday (London)"A witty satire . . . had me roaring with laughter at 2A.M."-Esquire

Twenty-two-year-old Horace Littlefair travels from the village of Great Much to the big city-London town-if not to make it rich, then at least to make a living working for his great uncle at the local newspaper. Unprepared, underpaid, and overdressed, he is plunged instead into the discombobulating world of love, racism, rabies, blackmail, political intrigue . . . and Scrabble. Horace is out of step with the rest of the world, threatened by impending disaster wherever he turns. But he is helped along by several unlikely and unusual friendships. And so Horace stumbles to adapt, to love, to produce good copy, and to get the scoop behind Barnaby Colefax's campaign to save the urban fox. Marvelous storytelling from a gifted young writer.