The Dictator And The Hammock - Tapa blanda

"The wealth of subsidiary narratives - all the impeccably crafted anecdotes and myths and allegories, stories large and small...produce a sophisticated reading experience and suggest a writer whose political view is amused and tart. They are so good, these stories, and so intelligently amusing, and they arrive so frequently, that we never have time to think of asking for more" (M. John Harrison Times Literary Supplement)

"Patricia Clancy's beautifully tuned ear has given us the full equivalent of Pennac's French humour, half erudite clowning and half absurdist whimsy. His style, seemingly offhand, is studiously exact and Clancy respectfully follows his precisely scripted convolutions" (Alberto Manguel Guardian)

"His adult fiction retains a childlike quality, existing in an imaginary realm where childhood and adulthood blur; reminiscent of Italo Calvino" (Carol Ann Duffy Daily Telegraph)

"A darkly comic meditation on life, death and the illusions of power" (Daniel Trilling New Statesman)

"A quirky, original comedy" (In Style Magazine)

Manuel Pereira da Ponte Martins, beloved dictator of the state of Teresina in Brazil, develops agoraphobia the day a fortune-teller predicts he will die being torn limb from limb by an angry mob. His life becomes unbearable and he decides to hire a double to stand in while he set off to enjoy himself in the fleshpots of Europe.

A few years later, the barber-turned-dictator also grows tired of running the country and employs the same trick as his predecessor to leave for Hollywood. On the boat there, he introduces himself as Charlie Chaplin. But everyone is convinced that he is none other than Rudolph Valentino disguised as Chaplin. When he arrives in New York, both the real actors are waiting for him.

Back in Teresina, the doubles follow one another, fooling the people with ease. Then Pereira comes back. He is astonished to discover that his stand-in doesn't look anything like him and reacts in a way that can only precipitate his meeting with Fate.

The Dictator and The Hammock is wildly original and extremely funny.