Having said that, this doesn't deviate too far from my themed reading.
Biographies are books about lives. This, although fictional, and fantastical, and magical, is about lives. It's about choices and the paths we go down. It's about what makes a person who they are.
Graham Patterson is, or rather was, a stand up comedian. He's just realised he wasn't up to it though, and has recently quit. he also recently split with his soulmate and long time love. he's not on a good ebb at the moment.
On a whim he has a tattoo done which turns out not to be the most normal piece of ink ever drawn on someone's arm. As a result of the tattoo, he can now view his different lifelines, lifelines where the things dragging him down never happened. At some point he must choose which of the three lives he wants to live in permanently, at which point the tattoo will vanish and he'll have no memory of the choice.
He soon finds there are other side effects too... but that would be spoilers.
He returns to some old themes from his old books, but from a different perspective. There were definite shades of Black Cocktail in there a few times. There are Easter eggs for many of his previous books. the Midnight films of Philip Strayhorn ore namechecked. A character lives in a building designed by the architect lead character from Outside the Dog Museum. the writer from land of Laughs is referenced, we return to Cranes View... and so on. he's built a full Stephen King type universe where everything is linked.
It's written in Carroll's usual elegant and hugely readable style, filled with observations and philosophical asides that add to rather than distract from the story. It's totally unpredictable - and after 18 books, the fact that he still blindsides me every time is somewhat astounding - filled with wonder and magic and probably his best book in the last decade at least. I felt a little underwhelmed with the endings of his last two novels, but this one has no such flaws. It deserves a second reading already and would no doubt be equally rewarding, possibly more so.
I loved this unreservedly and I insist you all read it NOW!
It's available from all good booksellers so you have no excuse.
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