Einstein is a novel by British author Miles Gibson

Miles Gibson

Miles Gibson is a reclusive English novelist, poet and artist. He was born in a squatters camp at an abandoned World War II airbase - RAF Holmsley South in the New Forest and raised in Christchurch, Hampshire....

 published in 2004 by The-Do-Not Press.

It is a darkly satirical, angry comedy with a lively streak of science fiction

Science fiction

Science fiction is a genre of fiction dealing with imaginary but more or less plausible content such as future settings, futuristic science and technology, space travel, aliens, and paranormal abilities...

 in which the hero and his dog encounter a Deep Time Mariner, an alien traveller sent down to Earth to evacuate important biological species to an intergalactic ark, before the planet collapses under the pressure of its own industrial filth and pollution. The hero imagines that the Deep Time Mariner has come to whisk him away to safety; but the Mariner has come for the dog. The dog, called Einstein, takes up the story in his own voice, offering an alternative version of the Creation myth and Man's place in the universe. Gibson's narrative attacks many different aspects of urban living, including modern art

Modern art

Modern art includes artistic works produced during the period extending roughly from the 1860s to the 1970s, and denotes the style and philosophy of the art produced during that era. The term is usually associated with art in which the traditions of the past have been thrown aside in a spirit of...

, the cult of motherhood, factory farming

Factory farming

Factory farming is a term referring to the process of raising livestock in confinement at high stocking density, where a farm operates as a factory — a practice typical in industrial farming by agribusinesses. The main products of this industry are meat, milk and eggs for human consumption...

, consumerism

Consumerism

Consumerism is a social and economic order that is based on the systematic creation and fostering of a desire to purchase goods and services in ever greater amounts. The term is often associated with criticisms of consumption starting with Thorstein Veblen...

 and big business

Big Business

Big business is a term used to describe large corporations, in either an individual or collective sense. The term first came into use in a symbolic sense subsequent to the American Civil War, particularly after 1880, in connection with the combination movement that began in American business at...

; but it remains, at heart, a story about our relationship with Nature.