The peacock manifesto - Stuart David

Novel "They call me Peacock. Why? The tattoo. I wear it on my shoulder. I had it done in my teens, in admiration of the bird. I still admire the bird today. I admire the way it looks. I admire the way it struts. I admire the way it preens. And did it hurt? Did it fuck." Come and meet Peacock Johnson, and ride with him on the craziest journey of your life as you travel across America in search of his ultimate fantasy: the hit record, the fame, the fortune. It's so close he can almost smell it. But a word of warning, don't fuck with Glasgow's own Rhinestone Cowboy, because nothing is going to stand in his way. Not the nagging of his mad missus, Bev, nor the weird antics of his Yanky side-kick, Evil Bob, not even you. As Peacock careers from one crisis to another, always clutching his masterpiece demo tape close by his side, his aspirations and plans spiral out of control in a frenzy of hilarity, disaster, sadness and dejection. Yet, he always grasps onto that glimmer of hope - after all, this is America, the land of dreams, where anything is possible...or is it?;The Peacock Manifesto is probably the best black-comedy you'll read this year, a superbly realised follow-up to the critically acclaimed and much-loved debut- Nalda Said. It weaves farce with danger, splicing sensitive undercurrents with brutal reality, sucking the reader into Peacock's well-dressed, badly advised and always utterly compulsive world.