With an introduction by Andrew Martin Fame, success, fortune, a drink problem slipping over the edge into alcoholism, a dead marriage, the incurable itches of middle-aged lust. For Wilfred Barclay, novelist, the final unbearable irritation is Professor Rick L. Tucker, implacable in his determination to become The Barclay Man. Locked in a lethal relationship they stumble across Europe, shedding wives, self-respect and illusions. The climax of their odyssey, when it comes, is as inevitable as it is unexpected. "e;Rich as a compost heap...It moves you and at times it can shake you"e;. (Melvyn Bragg). "e;A complex literary comedy from an extraordinarily powerful writer, which holds us right through to the end"e;. (Malcolm Bradbury).