Headlong

Review 'Frayn's plot - a high-precision feat of fictional engineering - accelerates exhilaratingly . . . a black and brilliant comedy of uncertainties.' -- Sunday Times 'Ingenious ... As entertaining as it is intelligent, as stimulating as it is funny.' -- New York Times 'As you are dragged into this headlong race for fame and fortune, you never know what will happen next, only that more torture lies in store.' --Independent on Sunday Product Description Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize Headlong begins when Martin Clay, a young would-be art historian, believes he has discovered a missing masterpiece. The owner of the painting is oblivious to its potential and asks Martin to help him sell it, leaving Martin with the chance of a lifetime: if he could only separate the painter from its owner, he would be able to perform a great public service, to make his professional reputation, perhaps even rather a lot of money as well. But is the painting really what Martin believes it to be? As Martin is drawn further into this moral and intellectual labyrinth, events start to spiral out of control . . . Shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, Whitbread Novel Award and the James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, Headlong is an ingeniously comic thriller that follows a young philosophy lectuerer's obsessive race through the art world in search of an elusive masterpiece. Michael Frayn's other novels include Spies, which won the Whitbread Best Novel award, and Skios, which was longlisted for the Booker Prize. Book Description Headlong by Michael Frayn - shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize and the Whitbread Novel Award - is a comic thriller set in the world of fine art, where a young philosophy lecturer risks his wealth and his sanity in the pursuit of an elusive masterpiece. About the Author Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on the Guardian and the Observer. His novels include Towards the End of the Morning, Headlong, Spies and Skios. His seventeen plays range from Noises Off, recently chosen as one of the nation's three favourite plays, to Copenhagen, which won the 1998 Evening Standard Award for Best Play of the Year and the 2000 Tony Award for Best Play. He is married to the writer Claire Tomalin.