Publishing Details

The collection was first published in 1994. It comprises some of Self's commissioned work as well as a number of stories written specially for the anthology. As with Self's other collections the stories deal with post modern ideas and situations with Zack Busner

Zack Busner

Zack Busner is a recurring character in the fiction of Will Self, appearing in the short story collections The Quantity Theory of Insanity, Grey Area, Dr. Mukti and Other Tales of Woe, and in the novels Great Apes and The Book of Dave....

 reappearing in a number of the stories.

Unlike Self's other short fiction there is very little in the way of connection between the stories, certainly not from a plot and character point of view. In an interview with the Boston Phoenix Self said "I wasn't altogether happy with Grey Area. I think it would have been a better book if I'd made all the stories link."

Each story in the book is titled with a small picture to illustrate a facet of the story. The book is dedicated to the author's brothers and is prefaced by the epitaph of Dr Zack Busner which reads, "He had no interests but interest."

Stories

Between the Conceits

The story's narrator describes how he and seven other individuals manipulate the population of London. He describes the politics that go on between the manipulaters (Lady Bob, Lechmere, Dooley, the Bollam Sisters The Recorder, Colin Purves) and their charge's orchestrated interactions.

The Indian Mutiny

A group of students one day rebel against their schoolmaster, Mr Vello. This story was commissioned by Tony Peake for the Constable anthology "Winter's Tales."

A Short History of the English Novel

Two friends, Gerard and Geraldine, wander across London taking in lunch and coffee and discuss English literature. They discover an alarming amount of authors. This story was commissioned by Maria Lexton for the "Time Out Book of London Short Stories" and was also subsequently published in Time Out.

Incubus

A young research assistant comes to stay with a professor and his family. housed in curious quarters she begins to have strange feelings. This story was commissioned by Tony Peake

Tony Peake

Tony Peake is a novelist, short story writer and biographer.Tony Peake was born in Johannesburg, South Africa in 1951 to English parents. His father, Bladon Peake , was a theatre and film director. Peake was educated at Waterkloof House Preparatory School in Pretoria, St...

 for a "Seduction" anthology for Serpent's Tail.

Scale

A man living alone describes his growing addiction to morphine. An Abridged version of this story appeared in Granta, although was originally commissioned by Martin Jaques. The author can be heard narrating passages of this story on the track "5ml Barrel" by Bomb the Bass

Bomb the Bass

Bomb the Bass is the umbrella title for the output of British musician and producer, Tim Simenon. The band, which has evolved its style over the years, has been classed as electronic or dance....

.

Chest

A short hop into the future and the air has become so polluted that it is toxic to breathe. Nebulisers, inhalers and even linctus have become the most desirable and useful items to own.

Grey Area

An office worker, working in The Department, starts to notice that things are not quite as they should be. Or more accurately are exactly and repetitively as they seem. The story ends with an episode of Newsnight and a discussion between Peter Snow

Peter Snow

Peter Snow, CBE is a British television and radio presenter. He is the grandson of First World War general Sir Thomas D'Oyly Snow, and cousin of Jon Snow, the main presenter of Channel 4 News, nephew of schoolmaster and bishop George D'Oyly Snow, and the brother-in-law of historian-writer Margaret...

, Zack Busner and Professor Stein.

Inclusion

A story told in epistolary fashion. The three documents involved are an information pack for the drug Inclusion, the diary entries of Simon Dykes and the diary entries of Zack Busner.

The End of the Relationship

A woman leaves her boyfriend and spends the rest of the day bouncing from person to person, meeting rejection at every corner.

External links

• Official Will Self site