JESUS CHRIST AM I ACTUALLY THE PERSON I THINK I AM?!

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designed around a theoretical/philosophical investigation (namely that of solipsism and the impossible, alien Other), Its meta-textual nature is foregrounded by both the frame narrative (the "author" and the author) and the (occasionally a little heavy-handed) central metaphor of the Self Smuggled within our own stories – smuggled within the tales we tell ourselves of our own history, and the Self we hide in our memories of others.

He is right, of course, that there is an unbreachable barrier between us and the Truth of the Other, that we are blinded by absorption, receiving un-traceable, origin-less signals from the World. If one does not doubt the existence of this World (and some do, or did, though I will not go that far) how does one not become mortifyingly depressed at the impossibility of actual interaction with it? What does it mean to have a relationship with someone whose existence is entirely a construct of my own, fundamentally flawed, brain?

David attempts, by carrying out the writer's trick of donning the mask of the Other, to not only bridge this gap, but also attempt to create a complete image of himself which incorporates his position as Other to those countless Others he encounters.

It is not a spoiler to note that he fails, as his task is an impossible one, though his failure is fascinating, and moving, and a joy to read.

There are times, too, when the prose strains at its binding, slips and stumbles, fractures. This is not only a very apt reflection of the increasing desperate mental state of David himself, but also a sign (which I believe his later work demonstrates) of McElroy's desire to push the Novel, both structurally and textually, to a place where it can most effectively engage with his concerns.