Whirligig

By Magnus Macintyre

Claypole is not 'a large man'. He is a fat man. A fat man with thin limbs, like an egg with tentacles. And life is not going well. He's alone, idle, and on the brink of a medical crisis when a childhood acquaintance makes him an offer he can't understand, can't talk about, but ultimately can't refuse. A week later, he finds himself in the wilds of Scotland, plunged into an eccentric community at war over a wind farm. He's supposed to be a backer, but he has no idea what side he's on, even though it may bag him a lot of money. All he wants is to look like a hero in front of the woman with the bright blue eyes who brought him here. To do so he must run the gauntlet of a family with many dark secrets, some dangerous hippies and their hallucinogenic potions, and the wilderness itself with all its threats and dangers. Whirligig is a raucous, joyous, often poignant comedy about the redemptive power of the countryside. Written with peerless wit, it's a timely fable that takes its place within the tradition of the Great English Comic Novel. It's The Wicker Man as told by P.G. Wodehouse.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Short Books Ltd
• Release date: Apr 4, 2013
• ISBN: 9781780721286

Magnus Macintyre

Magnus Macintyre grew up in suburban Oxford and rural Argyll, and then studied history at Jesus College, Cambridge. He has been a serial entrepreneur in UK magazine publishing, film, television, and wind farming, with varying degrees of success. Only once has he had a proper job, as managing director of the New Statesman. He now lives in Somerset with his wife, Lucie, and their two children, and writes full time. Whirligig is his first novel.

Reviews for Whirligig

[matthewjameshunt · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A very enjoyable and amusing story. Sometimes very funny. The main character Gordon Claypole was a joy to spend time with and I itched to get back into his world when I was away from it, so this was one of the quickest reads I’ve had for a long while. It’s such a light, frothy, wry, and entertaining read, yet it manages to elicit a full range of emotions.
Because a windfarm is central to the story, some occasional references to the anthropomorphic global warming debate were inevitable, but thankfully Macintyre manages to keep it neutral overall, and mostly fleeting, so don’t worry (as I did when it started to come up), you’re definitely not going to be lectured. It’s about people, not issues. Relax and enjoy a very entertaining story. I’m glad to have read this one. Gordon’s going to stay with me a long time.