The Quantity Theory of Morality

“Self is the most daring and delightful novelist of his generation.”—Guardian A blistering collection of dark, witty short stories by the Booker-shortlisted author, his first collection in two decades In Will Self’s first collection since his Geoffrey Faber Memorial award-winning The Quantity Theory of Insanity, his pen remains as dipped in vitriol and elegance as ever. The targets for his savage barbs have grown in both number and extent, including the hypocrisies of organized religion, the sacred cows of liberal humanism, and all that is absurd about modern life. With recurring—if defeated—appearances from now-canonical characters like Zack Busner, Self’s conceits grow ever more wildly imaginative, and they echo with laughter at once raucously abandoned and painfully hollow. Since the release of his first collection, Will Self has been hailed as a master of the short story.The Quantity Theory of Morality is his long-awaited return to form. Self skewers and scissors through modern mores and virtues in a bookend to his first collection, The Quantity Theory of Insanity, which Martin Amis likened to a cross between “a manic J. G. Ballard and a depressed David Lodge,” although, as ever, “Will Self’s world is all his own.”