John Banville is one of the finest and most critically-acclaimed writers of his generation. With elegance, insight and wit, he has secured a devoted readership, and there can be few more eagerly anticipated literary events than a new John Banville novel – and, indeed, this is the first novel under his own name since he won the 2005 Booker Prize with The Sea.
The Infinities is a bitter-sweet erotic comedy with magical overtones, a sort of demotic Midsummer Night's Dream. Set across one single summer's day, from dawn to the early hours of the next day, it tells the story of Adam, a successful mathematician who is lying in a coma after a stroke, surrounded by his family and a series of unexpected and mysterious guests.
Combining myth and social comedy, The Infinities is clever, charming and a true delight.