Paul Ewen Knihy

HOW TO BE A PUBLIC AUTHOR is a novel all about the Man Booker, using the prize as a springboard to explore what it means to be an author - and a human being - in the 21st century. It documents a series of fictitious happenings at real author events, as visited by the wonderful anti-hero Francis Plug - a troubled and often drunk misfit who causes chaos and confusion wherever he goes. Inventive, funny and moving, How To Be A Public Author is both a brilliant slapstick comedy and a surprising and touching meditation on loneliness.

FRANCIS PLUG is back! Adjusting to life as a newly published author - interviews and publicity are coming his way, not to mention considerable acclaim. But Francis can't understand why people think he was writing fiction... He also has other problems - and very little money. Fortunately, he's handed a lifeline when he lands a job as Writer-in-Residence at the University of Greenwich. The urgent questions build and build - and Francis is in no state to answer them. Will he keep his job? Will he be able to secretly sleep in his office? Will anyone find out that he did a wee in the corridor?

Eine brillante Roman-Satire auf den LiteraturbetriebFrancis Plug – Hobbyautor, Berufsgärtner und Sonderling – sorgt für Chaos und Verwirrung, wo immer er auftaucht. Und am liebsten taucht er auf Autorenlesungen auf. Dort sucht er das Gespräch mit literarischen Größen wie Salman Rushdie, Margaret Atwood, Julian Barnes oder Hilary Mantel. Denn Plug sammelt Material für ein großes Buchprojekt: einen Ratgeber für angehende Schriftsteller, der ihnen dabei helfen soll, öffentliche Auftritte zu meistern. Dass Plugs Vorhaben haarsträubend aus dem Ruder läuft, liegt nicht an seinen illustren Studienobjekten. Sondern daran, dass er seinen ärgsten Feind nicht in den Griff bekommt: sich selbst.