Book Review of "Cock and Bull"

The first half of Self's Cock and Bull did not end the way I thought it was going to. Published in 1992, it's Will Self's first book after The Quantity Theory of Insanity (1991) and is actually comprised of two novellas (not having read the second, I won't comment on it) that follow a woman and a man that grow a penis and vagina, respectively. An author heralded and/or hated for his absolutely unabashed representation of horrifying humanities, Self has carved a place for himself in the hall of Transgressive authors next to Palahniuk, the younger Amis, Ballard, and Walsh. A recipient of the Geoffrey Faber Memorial Prize, Aga Khan Prize for Fiction, and the Bollinger Everyman Wodehouse Prize, his satirical, gruesome, and clever works are recognizable talent in the literary world.

"Cock" follows Carol: a young woman from Poole or Llanstephan who lives a pretty pathetically indifferent life with her husband Dan, an alcoholic graphic designer until she begins to grow a penis. With her newfound genitalia Carol becomes independent and self-assured going so far as obtain her drivers license, attend Al Anon meetings, and rape and kill Dan. Self has a knack for juxtaposing the mundane and the ludicrous that has been compared to Kafka's by Michiko Kakutani of the New York Times. His Oxford education lends him an impressive vocabulary that can catches a reader off-guard. This intentional interruptive tactic is also employed in his use of multiple narrators that work to obscure our understanding of Self's literary intentions.