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Books

Howard Jacobson’s J convinced me that I’d just read a masterpiece

But on reflection is it really imaginable that Britain will have anti-Semitic pogroms within the next few years?

13 September 2014

9:00 AM

13 September 2014

9:00 AM

J Howard Jacobson

Jonathan Cape, pp.327, £18.99, ISBN: 9780224101974

At first sight, J — which has beenshortlisted for the Man Booker Prize — represents a significant departure for Howard Jacobson. It’s set in a future Britain where some sort of apocalypse — known only as ‘WHAT HAPPENED, IF IT HAPPENED’ — has taken place several decades ago. It also contains virtually no jokes.

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