Subha M Wijesiriwardena

DBC Pierre is perhaps best  known as the writer of Vernon God Little – an astute and frighteningly accurate look at what makes America the country that it is – and besides, what makes it so endlessly fascinating, both in love and hate, to us – the rest of the world. Following the critical acclaim and success of Vernon God Little, which won the Booker Prize in 2003 (a rare occasion where a truly extraordinary and special literary work was awarded the prestigious prize), DBC Pierre went on to write more, with his second, third and fourth books becoming unofficial sequels to the first novel. Most often, we follow a protagonist that seems undoubtedly shaped on DBC Pierre himself – if you’ve ever heard him speak his mind – an anti-capitalist hedonistic anarchist with a sharp mind, sharp wit, and an unrelentingly cynical view of the world and a controlled grasp of irony and satire with which to express this distaste and disgust at all endearing human flaws.

There are two particularly wonderful bits from Lights Out in Wonderland:

‘In thinking creatures, all happiness not derived from intoxicants is false. The simple message: be briefly happy – there is no long happiness – then step aside.’