An Underachiever's Diary

With his debut novel, Benjamin Anastas has written a hymn to the imperfect; in the character William, he has created a definitive antihero for the 90s. `Sparkling . . . extremely funny, bursting with one-liners and the familiar, sharp wit of the New York neurotic' Observer `As a diarist, William is a sit-down comedian. We are in the nerdy, nervy territory of Woody Allen and Nicholson Baker here . . . both funny and moving' Time Out `A richly comic novel that directs its satirical energies against the idea of success . . . a deft performance' Daily Telegraph `Unconcerned as to whether he is liked or loathed, William can cast a curious rhetorical spell and, in the end, we love him despite ourselves' The Times `The sly fiction's greatest strength is the finely tuned voice Anastas has created for William, who takes us . . . through his childhood, adolescence and early adulthood without ever faltering in his often droll, deadpan delivery . . . his celebration of less over more serves as an unusual tonic' LA Times