Telescope

Daniel Brennan, approaching the premature end of his life, retreats to a room in his brother's suburban house. To divert himself and to entertain Ellen, his carer, he writes the journal that is Telescope, blurring truth, gossip and fiction in vignettes of his own life and the lives of those close to him. Above all he focuses on his siblings: mercurial Celia, whose life as a teacher in Italy seems to have run aground, and kindly Charlie, the entrepreneur of the family. Enriched with remarkable observations on topi ranging from tattoos and Tokyo street fashion to early French photography, Telescope is a startlingly original and moving book, a glimpse of the world as seen by a connoisseur of vicarious experience. Jonathan Buckley's first five novels were published by Fourth Estate; his sixth by Sort of Books: The Biography of Thomas Lang (1997) Xerxes (1999) Ghost MacIndoe (2001) Invisible (2004) So He Takes the Dog (2006) Contact (2010)