Enter the Aardvark

‘Deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny’ GUARDIAN

Jessica Anthony author

Format:Hardback

Publisher:Transworld Publishers Ltd

Published:23rd Apr '20

Should be back in stock very soon

This hardback is available in another edition too:

Enter the Aardvark cover

Refreshing different, highly inventive, witty and moving, ENTER THE AARDVARK is an absolute original. A budding politician's career is put in jeopardy when he receives a large stuffed aardvark in the post. Brilliant and funny, a biting satire about politics, love, and taxidermy for fans of Jennifer Egan, Jonathan Franzen and Joshua Ferris.

'It's a long time since I have enjoyed a novel so much. Fresh, witty and smart it also has a heart.' KATE ATKINSON
'Enter the Aardvark sizzles with uproarious fun, from its snout to the sting in its tale.' INDEPENDENT
'The perfect tonic for testing times...deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny' GUARDIAN

Only one thing stands between Alexander Paine Wilson and his destiny... and it has long ears, spoon-like claws and a tubular snout...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 taxidermied 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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'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 this. Completely insane but utterly hilarious'. JOHN BOYNE

'Spry, slim, clever...the inventiveness is impressive and the story has heart' THE SUNDAY TIMES


'What begins as a topical takedown of the American political system deepens into a hugely enjoyable romp through history.' OBSERVER

'Fresh, astute and mouthwateringly sharp, this is a rare thing; a political satire that tugs on the heartstrings in unconventional ways.' IRISH TIMES

'Sharp, inventive and very funny, it's an entertainingly bizarre political satire.' TATLER

'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' DAILY MAIL

'Old, dead creature brings down flash, vain senator... Out in front as the most fizzing and amusing novel of...

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 Aardvarksizzles with uproarious fun, from its snout to the sting in its tale. * INDEPENDENT *
[An] ingenious political satire…The perfect tonic for testing times…deliciously astute, fresh and terminally funny. * GUARDIAN *
Spry, slim, clever...the inventiveness is impressive and the story has heart. * THE SUNDAY 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 *
Fresh, astute and mouthwateringly sharp, this is a rare thing; a political satire that tugs on the heartstrings in unconventional ways. * IRISH TIMES *
‘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 *
'Old, dead creature brings down flash, vain senator... Out in front as the most fizzing and amusing novel of the year.' * STRONG WORDS magazine *
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 *
Sharp, inventive and very funny, it’s an entertainingly bizarre political satire. * TATLER *
‘A joyfully weird, compulsive political satire' * MAIL ON SUNDAY *
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 *
‘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 *
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 *
‘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 *
‘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 *

ISBN: 9780857526991

Dimensions: 204mm x 136mm x 136mm

Weight: 273g

192 pages