New Simon Edge satire based on Forstater case

[TheCountessofFitzdotterel]

For anyone who enjoyed The End Of The World Is Flat he has a new one out, In The Beginning

It seems to be closer to reality than the other so it’s not quite as original and funny but I am enjoying it nonetheless.

Aww fab, I love The End of the World is Flat.

I enjoyed it, especially the follower farms and how they can be used to create the impression that many human beings (not robots) actually support your views and how that then can be used to build tribalism and end all critical thought.

Well bloody hell. I was about to start the last chapter when it told me an error had occurred and should delete it and download it again, so I did but the same thing happened.
It got funnier in the second half, too.

Ah but luckily I have just realised I can read it on my phone.

I loved the End of the World Is Flat, so when I saw there was a new novel by the same author advertised a couple of weeks ago, I ordered the paperback. I didn't realise the kindle version would be released earlier. The paperback isn't released until June 8th, so now I have to decide whether to wait, or give in and get the electronic one.

Can’t you cancel the paperback?

Thanks for the heads up, Countess!

I've bought it for my kindle. Haven't read all of the first one yet (my pile of to-read books gets bigger and bigger)

Great so far. Just spotted the LOJ character:

Evelina, in the heavy accent that made her English sound poorer than it really was, said: ‘I remember an article by Leon Smith in The Guardian that said we must blame the Saudis, the US and the UK. This sounds very possibly true, but usually I believe the opposite to Leon Smith, so I’m conflicted.’

Leon Smith was a fresh-faced columnist whose byline picture – neatly parted hair, what looked like a school regulation jumper, no indication that he ever needed to shave – made him look like the swotty child who always sat at the front in class. In fact, he was an outspoken left-winger, of the sort who most enjoyed denouncing other left-wingers for not being left-wing enough. Tara knew this because she too had seen the piece to which Evelina referred and had been intrigued by this juvenile blowhard who knew so little, yet expressed it with such confidence.

😂

Ouch!

D'oh - and Matt Tree is Mark Plant... Spotting the real-life people (allegedly!) behind the characters is fun though.

The Jolyon Maugham reference made me LOL. Not going to spoiler it here though as I want to help Simon Edge sell more books 🙂

He's nailed the LOJ character:
He might look cherubic but here was brute power in its digital form: using his more than one million followers to heap hatred, like slurry from a tip-up truck, onto blameless individuals. It was an ugly spectacle.

Just finished reading it. Highly recommended!

Just finished this . . Yep another fast entertaining read from Simon Edge but I do wonder what someone who hasn't also breathlessly followed the Forstater case would make of it. As others have said, much of the fun for initiates is working out who is meant to be who - a roman a clef, my deceased mum would have said.
I don't think the characterisation was the strongest - perhaps not Edge's forte anyway - Tara's kids seemed to have been born adult, with no childhood memories evoked anywhere.
And if she's just spent 7 years in the Yemen - how old were they when she left? (Still doing A levels? How would that work!? Sorry Simon if you see this, but this is Mumsnet!)
Overall, Tara is introduced as someone with a complex and fascinating background about which we end up knowing very little.
The Yemen backstory was actually my favourite bit, I think because It felt genuinely original; no coincidence probably that this part owed most to Edge's own experience.
So yes enjoyable like The End of The World is Flat . . As there, the Twitter exchanges deserve special mention.
But 'Anyone for Edmund?' is still my favourite Edge novel (have only read these 3).

Thanks for the recommendation, @marytuda - have just bought Anyone for Edmund? for some light reading. Apart from his 2 gender ideology satires, the only other one of his books that I've read was The Hurtle of Hell. It was OK, with some funny set pieces, but rather strange. The protagonist shares a birthday with Edge - 25 December - IIRC.

Added it to my wishlist!

Loved Den (ton) Hooper!😂

Yes, I loved that, too. Great fun spotting the real-life people and parallels.