The Butt
by Will Self
Bloomsbury, HK$210
Will Self travels to the heart of darkness along a road that stretches like 'a dirty tongue' from a gaudy tourist trap to a brutal lesson in the passive conformity of westerners.
Tom Brodzinski is on holiday with his family in or on a land that might be Africa, Australia, a Pacific island or, if you take a wrong turn at the Hilton, Iraq. Tourists can keep their minds open and enjoy the cultural quirks of their exotic getaway or they can admit that they have blown their annual leave on a violent, corrupt state thriving like a wart in the crevice of an old colonial power.
Irritated by the intrusive, nannying anti-smoking measures across his holiday destination, Tom thinks he is recalibrating his concerns and taking responsibility for himself when he does what he is told and quits smoking. He flicks his last butt from the hotel balcony 'in a moment of utter unthinking' and turns away to hear screams from below as an elderly man douses his smoking scalp.