DUCK

by Des Dillon

Mick Riley, husband, father and unreconstructed nineties man, is suffering from a delusion - he thinks life will improve if he runs off to Blackpool with the babysitter. But fun with the alluring Carmen does not solve the pain in his head. Des Dillon has created a complex character - treacherous yet loyal, violent yet tender, hedonistic yet mean, whose fate may just be an allegory for a consumerist age.

335 pages, Paperback

First published August 1, 1998

About the author

Des Dillon was born and brought up in Coatbridge, Lanarkshire, and studied English at Strathclyde University. A former teacher, he is now a poet, short story writer, novelist and dramatist writing for radio, stage, television and film. He has taught Creative Writing at the Arvon Foundation and was Writer in Residence at Castlemilk, Glasgow, between 1998 and 2000. Des now lives in Galloway with his wife and two dogs, one of whom really did walk on the ceiling during an epileptic fit.