Damascus - Hardcover

From the reviews of X 20:

‘Elegant, witty and confident’
Observer

‘Beard is as good on the sensuality of smoking as on the philosophy. This is an unusually intelligent, funny and readable first book.’
Sunday Times

‘Beard’s prose is dry, nonchalant and fluent. An accomplished first novel.’
TLS

‘Populated by a cast of well-drawn eccentrics, loaded with encyclopaedic detail on the history and iconography of smoking, this comic novel nevertheless aims at deep seriousness. Beard’s writing can be breathtaking’
Daily Telegraph

The new novel from the author of X 20.

How much can a life change in a day, in the blinding flash of a moment? What can you learn about someone in an instant, in a lifetime? Take a day, any day, and see.

A funny, clever and unusual novel – a love story in which all the events, people and places are taken from the contents of the 1 November 1993 issue of The Times newspaper. Every object, item of clothing, shop, book, colour or weather system in Damascus can be found in the one newspaper, as can the scores in sports events and the occupations of passersby – all brought together by Richard Beard’s crisp and witty storytelling.