2 cassettes
Read by the author.
As every schoolboy knows, you can fit the whole of England on the Isle of Wight. In Julian's Barnes' new novel, the grotesque, visionary tycoon Sir Jack Pitman takes the saying literally and does exactly that. Starting from the premise that most tourists are interested only in the top attractions and are as satisfied with a replica as with the real thing, he constructs 'The Project', a vast heritage centre containing everything 'English', for Buck House to Stonehenge, from Manchester United to the White Cliffs of Dover.
The project is monstrous, risky, and vastly successful. Indeed it gradually begins to rival 'Old' England and threatens to supersede it.