Told over the course of a few days, it is a young man's plight against the mediocrity, crippling monotony, and apathy of modern society. Recognising he is part of a cultural 'lost generation,' he at last loses his grip on the meaningless and empty. While standing on the precipice of what he sees as humanity's next great overcoming, and unwillingly embracing the nihilism of his predicament, a series of events and chance meetings cast him on a brief, life-affirming journey into the depths of his unconscious that changes everything. The prose of Turgenev, Hemingway, Hesse, Bukowski are prominent throughout, as well as the philosophical influences of Nietzsche and Sartre, and the spiritual humanism of Alan Watts. A contemporary critique of modern society that is undeniably confronting, frank, but beautifully finished. A must read if you've ever questioned the hollow call to fulfil your banal social destiny. | So Dark the Con of Man by Jonathan K Wade, Paperback | Indigo Chapters