It’s a beautifully-told story that follows a simple, linear progression from the daily grind to the freedom that we all, at some stage, wish for ourselves. The Gigantic Beard that was Evil tracks Dave’s transformation from "everyman" to individual, a transformation that, however unwelcome, will change Dave’s outlook on life, and those of his neighbours and fellow islanders. A hair that one day grows into a giant beard that Dave cannot get rid of, throwing his life into chaos, and inherently changing the nature of Here. Dave is completely bald, except for the single stubborn hair under his nose. He has a tidy, ordered life: gets up at the same time every morning, follows the same route to work, performs the same tasks – analysing the same, unsurprising figures – and eats the same lunch from the same fast-food place, all the while listening to the same song – The Bangles’ Eternal Flame – over and over on constant repeat. Dave lives in a small house – exactly like every other house on his street – on the edge of Here. At least, that’s what the inhabitants of Here believe, since anyone who has ever gone to There has never returned to tell their tale. Across the sea is There, the complete opposite to Here, a place where chaos rules and nothing is ever as it should be.
‘Tidy’ is the watchword, and everything follows pre-defined patterns, and no-one stands out. The island of Here is a place where order reigns supreme. Twitter Updates Tweets by MattGCraig Tag Cloud alison littlewood angela slatter Atlantic Books australia Berlin borough press cara hunter carrie carrieat40 child abduction competition corvus crime Daniel Polansky dark tower david lagercrantz Doubleday drugs extract family fantasy Florida france ghosts Gollancz guest post Hard Case Crime harpercollins harper voyager harvill secker headline Head of Zeus Hitler hodder hodder & stoughton hodderscape review project holocaust horror influences Interview Ireland James Ellroy james smythe jamie bulloch joe hill jo fletcher books John Connolly jonathan cape justin cronin kevin sampson London Los Angeles MacLehose Press Macmillan magic malcolm mackay mantle matthew blakstad Michael Marshall Michael Marshall Smith murder Neal Stephenson Neil Gaiman new york no exit press noir orbit orenda books Orion orion books oxford Pan MacMillan paris penguin picador pierre lemaitre politics post-apocalypse Quercus raven books Raymond Chandler religion Sanctus sarah pinborough serial killer Simon & Schuster Simon Toyne stephen king Stuart Neville the passage the shining the twelve thriller Time Travel Tim Lebbon Titan Books unsung stories war weidenfeld & nicholson will dean
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