His command of the English language and its arcane intricacies is breathtaking and used to sumptuous and tortuous effect. The question I find myself raising when it comes to his books is – are they enjoyable? Is there any satisfaction to be gained from delving into his particular dark and subversive imagination?

Once again these questions resurface when reviewing Self's new novel The Butt.

Vaguely slobby, slightly irritated father and husband Tom Brodzinski has finished his final cigarette and casually flicks it over the side of his balcony. It hits Reggie Lincoln on the head and before you know it, poor Brodzinski has been propelled into another of Will Self's bizarre alternate realities. A place where the indigenous peoples do not believe in accidents and various tribal restitutions must be fulfilled as part of a distorted judicial system. Brodzinski must journey Heart of Darkness-like into the interior of a country that ranges from first world on the coast to fourth world the further in you get. He is travelling with the repulsive Prentice, a fellow criminal who is possibly a paedophile and who Brodizinsky may have to kill as part of his restitution. Theirs is a bizarre journey through an unforgiving landscape, in a country fouled by colonialism and the greed of capitalism. In this country, Self creates a place that is equal parts Africa and Australia with a pinch of Iraq thrown in to really satirise western culture's dominance over indigenous populations the world over. Throughout the book Self chooses his targets well and, with broad sweeps of his pen lays waste to centuries of male-dominated, western ideology, to mealy-mouthed liberalism, to conceited colonial racism, even to well-meaning public health doctrine. All suffused with his trademark surrealism and dark flights of twisted fantasy. That he also incorporates elements of psychoanalysis, neuroscience and anthropology into this allegory just makes the reader sit back and admire the skills Self has in his possession. This is a novel bursting with ideas, that is satirical, subversive and at times hilarious, all from the act of flicking the butt of a cigarette. Surely this is a writer at the height of his immeasurable powers.

Yet, referring to my original question, is this book enjoyable? The answer is surely yes – once you get past the usual grotesques of his characters and, much like a really rich dessert, once you've ridden the first sugar-fuelled nausea of the illimitable, arcane, elevated vocabulary of his prose. There is pure joy in his freedom of expression and playfulness in his storytelling. Unlike some authors, you get the impression that Will Self really likes to write and
aims to stretch his readers and therein lies the satisfaction.

This is an expertly crafted novel with an original plot, great characters and wonderful set pieces. With each successive novel, Self seems to make his novels more accessible without losing any of the intelligence of his previous work.


Will Self
Bloomsbury, £14.99