The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder by John Ironmonger

The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder by John Ironmonger

'Maximilian Ponder is lying face up, dead, on the dining table in his own front room. This is something you really should know, right from the start. Max would also have wanted you to know that this is a Henri II style, French, walnut extending dining table, standing on solid turned legs with fretwork decor to the middle, also with ebony and sandalwood inlay, designed by the French furniture maker Nicolas Rastin and probably dating from around 1900...' Maximilian Ponder shut himself away for thirty years in an attempt to record every memory he ever had. Now he lies dead, surrounded by his magnum opus - The Catalogue - an exhaustive set of notebooks and journals that he hopes will form the map of one human mind. But before his friend Adam Last can call the police and inform them of Max's death, one rather gruesome task remains in order for Max's project to be complete. Interspersed with sections from The Catalogue, Adam tells the story of the man he knew - a man whose life changed dramatically the day he buried a dead labrador and fought a duel with his father. What emerges is both the story of a friendship, and also of a lifelong obsession, a quest to understand the human mind, memory, and what constitutes a life.

A book which pulls off its strange premise with charm, wit and devil-may-care storytellingHuge fun to read, sneakily sad in places. A tragicomic - but mostly comic - meditation on memory and humanity, which will stay with you for a long time. Mark Watson on THE NOTABLE BRAIN OF MAXIMILIAN PONDER original, touching and extremely well-written...I'm delighted to have read it. It's made me feel good about the Not The Booker all over again. -- Sam Jordison THE GUARDIAN 20120822 exceptional, quirky debut. the poetically perfect underlying message of the story is found in the often late night (often drug-fuelled) conversations PRESS ASSOCIATION 20120315

Dr John Ironmonger is 55 years old and works in software consultancy, which often takes him abroad. He is married with grown up children and lives in Shropshire. The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder is his first novel.

SKU	Unavailable
ISBN 13	9780297866091
ISBN 10	0297866095
Title	The Notable Brain of Maximilian Ponder
Author	John Ironmonger
Condition	Unavailable
Binding Type	Hardback
Publisher	Orion Publishing Co
Year published	2012-03-29
Number of pages	304
Prizes	Short-listed for Costa First Novel Award 2012
Cover note	Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.