Description

Discover the rip-roaringly funny satirical novel about a stuffed aardvark who threatens to derail a Republican Congressman’s political career…

‘It’s a long time since I have enjoyed a novel so much. Fresh, witty and smart it also has heart’ Kate Atkinson

‘An ingenious political satire…deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny’ Guardian

‘What begins as a topical takedown of the American political system deepens into a hugely enjoyable romp through history’ Observer

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We all know politics is absurd. But could a scheming politician be brought down by a stuffed aardvark?

Republican congressman Alexander Paine Wilson is determined that nothing will stop him in his campaign for re-election.

Not the fact that he is a bachelor, not the fact that his main adversary Nancy Beavers – married, with children – is rising in the polls. Nothing.

That is, until one hot day in August, he receives a large parcel via FedEx. Inside is a gigantic taxidermy aardvark.

This aardvark has a surprising history – from the Victorian naturalist who discovered it to the taxidermist who deemed it his finest creation.

But for Wilson, the entrance of the aardvark sets off a chain of events that threaten to ruin his entire career.

Constantly surprising, brilliantly comic and piquantly provocative, Enter the Aardvark is a tale for our times, a biting satire with a tender underbelly.
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‘So perfect and funny that you read it over and over, laugh every time…Completely insane but utterly hilarious’ John Boyne

‘Inventive and darkly funny’ Time

‘Fresh, astute and mouthwateringly sharp, this is a rare thing; a political satire that tugs on the heartstrings in unconventional ways’ Irish Times

‘Spry, slim, clever…the inventiveness is impressive and the story has heart’ The Sunday Times

‘The most fizzing and amusing novel of the year’ Strong Words magazine

‘Sharp, inventive and very funny, it’s an entertainingly bizarre political satire’ TATLER

‘Weird, wonderful, and very much of the moment, Enter the Aardvark is a landmark political novel of the Trump era…With heart and humor, Anthony expertly skewers our current political climate’ Esquire

Publisher Review

'A curious, surprising and moving story about two men who- to put it one way - become involved with an aardvark and thereby condemn themselves to death.' * THE CRITIC * 'Sometimes, a paragraph near the start of a novel is so perfect and funny that you read it over and over, laugh every time, and know you're in for a treat...I'm loving it. Completely insane but utterly hilarious' * JOHN BOYNE * The scope of Anthony's imagination can sometimes beggar belief. What a mind she has. As the narrative twists between the past and the present, it seems like anything could happen at any time....a hilariously poisonous evisceration of the cowardly, disingenuous politicians running rampant through Trump's Washington. * CULTUREFLY * 'Weird, wonderful, and very much of the moment, Enter the Aardvark is a landmark political novel of the Trump era.' * ESQUIRE.COM Best Books of 2020 * Inventive and darkly funny...as Anthony connects characters from today with those from 19th-century England, she offers an original and unsettling lens through which to view male power as it has evolved over time. * TIME * 'A joyfully weird, compulsive political satire' * MAIL ON SUNDAY * Sharp, inventive and very funny, it's an entertainingly bizarre political satire. * TATLER * 'Jessica Anthony's Enter the Aardvark was exactly the smart, funny and poignant pick-me-up that I needed...Anthony entwines her two narrative threads with seamless precision...Riotously entertaining' * i-news * 'Old, dead creature brings down flash, vain senator... Out in front as the most fizzing and amusing novel of the year.' * STRONG WORDS magazine * 'Part 21st-century political satire, part unexpectedly affecting 19th-century love story...It's every bit as strange as it sounds, and yet somehow it works: there's a pleasing symmetry to the parallel plots, and Anthony's writing is evocative enough to snare the imagination.' * DAILY MAIL * Fresh, astute and mouthwateringly sharp, this is a rare thing; a political satire that tugs on the heartstrings in unconventional ways. * IRISH TIMES * What begins as a topical takedown of the American political system deepens into a hugely enjoyable romp through history...Madcap and satirical without ever being flippant, Anthony's novel is totally unrealistic yet completely truthful. * OBSERVER * Spry, slim, clever...the inventiveness is impressive and the story has heart. * THE SUNDAY TIMES * [An] ingenious political satire...The perfect tonic for testing times...deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny. * GUARDIAN * If you are anything like me, you will end up loving the actual aardvark...and relish the world of taxidermy that Anthony brings to life. Enter the Aardvark sizzles with uproarious fun, from its snout to the sting in its tale. * INDEPENDENT *