''The Sweet Smell of Psychosis'' is English writer

Will Self William Woodard Self (born 26 September 1961) is an English author, journalist, political commentator and broadcaster. He has written 11 novels, five collections of shorter fiction, three novellas and nine collections of non-fiction writing. Sel ...

's first published novella. It was printed by Bloomsbury Books in 1996 and features illustrations by

Martin Rowson Martin Rowson ( ; born 15 February 1959) is a British editorial cartoonist and writer. His genre is political satire and his style is scathing and graphic. He characterises his work as "visual journalism". His cartoons appear frequently in ''The ...

. Richard Hermes is a

London London is the capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary dow ...

journalist who lives a life of drudging days and

cocaine Cocaine (from , from , ultimately from Quechua: ''kúka'') is a central nervous system (CNS) stimulant mainly used recreationally for its euphoric effects. It is primarily obtained from the leaves of two Coca species native to South Ameri ...

fuelled nights. He falls in with a local media personality called Bell and his crew which includes the delightful and attractive Ursula. Ursula is also a media type writing a good sex column. As Richard attempts to get closer and closer to her, he finds himself consuming more and more until finally psychosis begins to break in.

Plot

Reception

In reviewing the book Katherine Guckenberger concludes:

"Self's message is clear: life is ugly and ironic, and the sooner one figures this out, the sooner one can not overcome it but accept it."

Brian Budzynski writing for the Center for Book Culture observed:

"Self’s satirical indictment of urban literary culture is defined within his prose by Richard’s voice, "brusque to the point of rank rudeness". With an air of contempt and "expensively studied disregard", Self’s characters endeavor to persevere within the "knots of desperation" that they have created. One can’t help but think that Self implicates himself as a fellow "hack"; his language perfectly reflects a subculture that is as mysterious as it is dangerous and intriguing." http://www.centerforbookculture.org/review/bookreviews/00_1/sweetsmell.html Center for Book culture

References

External links

Official Will Self site
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Sweet Smell of Psychosis, The 1996 books British novellas Novels by Will Self