Einstein

by Miles Gibson

Charlie is woken one night to be told it's the end of the world. So what's he supposed to do about it? He can save himself by proving that he's performed one simple worthwhile act in his life. Oddly enough, that's where the story begins. Einstein is an outrageous comedy of high anxieties and low morals. A rollercoaster adventure embracing everything important, from modern art to militant mothers, from battery chickens to the Meaning of Life. And then there was the dog...

Genres: Fiction

281 pages, Paperback

First published October 15, 2004

About the author

Miles Gibson (born 1947) is a reclusive English novelist, poet and artist.
Gibson was born in a squatters camp at an abandoned World War II airbase, RAF Holmsley South in the New Forest, and raised in Mudeford, Dorset. The camp was dubbed Tintown and had been sanctioned by Christchurch Town Council as a way to ease postwar housing shortages. He was educated at Sandhills Infant School, Somerford Junior School and Somerford Secondary Modern - now The Grange School.

Gibson’s darkly satirical writing has been described as both “magic realism” and “absurdist fiction”. Although his narratives remain linear in construction his employment of black humour, pastiche, and untrustworthy narrators places him firmly among the postmodernists.

Reviews

[Les · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a funny, goofy book with (I think) a couple of subtle yet important messages. The first, and most obvious, message is that human beings have wreaked such havoc and destruction over the planet that we are very close (if not past) the point of no return. The second message is that much of our lives are spent allowing things to happen to us because we are not willing to take a risk. Our intentions may be good and honorable, but we still end up trading our real selves for imagined security.

[Mary Davidsaver · Rating 4 out of 5]

I liked this book. The talking dog was inventive. The alien was interesting. Those elements invited a lot of social commentary I found to be relevant. It was more of a YA read for young men than for me right now. However, the ending came through and recaptured my attention.