How to Paint a Dead Man

Tour de force in many ways...breathtakingly clever. Then there's the characterisation which is both bright and deep: each of the characters is distinct, believable, complex, flawed and human... but the best reason for loving this novel is the poetic quality of the prose... [it] was longlisted for the 2009 Man Booker prize. Why on earth wasn't it shortlisted? Independent on Sunday