The Quantity Theory of Insanity (Paperback)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

With its U.K. publication in 1991, this collection of six morbidly funny stories of Thatcherite Britain secured Self's standing as the enfant terrible of English satirical fiction. As in last year's My Idea of Fun, Self's parodic style here hinges on flat, gullible, slightly ridiculous narrators, who serve both as picaresque vehicles for Self's sardonic critiques of English cultural life and filters for his manic, erudite prose. In the title story, a paranoid social scientist recounts in absurdly pretentious style how he arrived at his celebrated theory that "there is only a fixed proportion of sanity available in any given society." In "Understanding the Ur-Bororo," an anthropologist spends years studying an indigenous tribe in the Amazon basin only to discover that their distinguishing trait is that they are boring. In the rather affecting first story, "The London Book of the Dead," a bereaved narrator finds that his dead mother is living in a remote part of London. Events and names threaded through each tale hold together this uneven collection; steeped in grotesque metaphors, millenialist zeal and preposterous academic theories, it will surely appeal to Self's widening Stateside audience. Often downright misanthropic, it displays the young author's debts to the dissimilar satirical sensibilities of David Lodge and William Burroughs. Author tour.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

With these six sardonic tales, Self establishes himself as a first-rank satirist. In the title story, the originator of the renowned Quantity Theory of Insanity recounts the events surrounding its discovery and the disputatious history of his "school." In "The North London Book of the Dead," a young man learns what lies beyond death when he spots his deceased mother walking down a suburban London street. "Understanding the Ur-Bororo" concerns an anthropologist's studies of a remote Brazilian tribe whose distinguishing trait is their dullness; indeed, the tribe's name translates as "The People Who You Wouldn't Want To be Cornered by at a Party." Filled with acid wit and fresh, trenchant metaphors, these corrosive stories probe the terror hidden within the trivial. Recommended.
Lawrence Rungren, Bedford Free PL, Mass.
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: Vintage (March 19, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0679750940
• ISBN-13: 978-0679750949
• Product Dimensions: 8 x 5.2 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 9.1 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (13 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #648,263 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A casual, erudite stroll down the blind alley of insanity., November 2, 1996

By A Customer

Back in college in the late 60's I remember talking with a philosophy professor about Roman Polanski's early film "Repulsion." He said that it helped him to understand that when some of the mad and troubled people he worked with (no, not his philosophy students) said that they saw monsters outside, hiding behind the trees, they really did see monsters. Will Self's book of short stories provides such revelations. Epiphanies of the absurd. Each page turns over a rock under which mental illness is spawning--slowly and quietly and inexorably. The title story is as slow a descent into societal madness as I've ever taken. You get infected somewhere along the way but you're not sure where. Like touching a doorknob that's been contaminated with lunacy. The next thing you know, you sneeze, and when you look up you see a monster peering at you from behind a tree. Will Self is an accomplished stylist with a following of both avid fans and vocal detractors. Read "The Quantity Theory of Insanity" and you'll be one or the other.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If such a theory exists then surely Mr. Self himself is hording quite a bit, September 27, 2005

By	John Thompson "Sophist" (Tallahassee, FL United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The sheer volume of fantastic ideas contained in this collection of short fiction sets one's neural bulb a-boggle.

The story on the theory of waiting alone, will have you pondering your very existence, to such a degree of mind-numbing scrutiny that a painstaker will think you're persnickty.

Admittedly there are quite a few tangential stories that take you so far off the beaten path that you soon begin to wonder what exactly it is that your reading other than a random series of words, broken by sharp wit, and cunning humor.

But, many stories throughout, will a- and be-muse you.

Keep a dictionary close at hand.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Impressive, almost inspiring, July 11, 2003

By	James F (Wayne, NJ USA) - See all my reviews

Will Self's 'The Quantity Theory of Insanity' overflows with (unsurprisingly) dark humor mixed with academic flair. The stories often seem to lack a clear and definitive finishing point, as if one is reading a manuscript of a story half-written. This, of course, may be a purposeful attempt; that by not offering conclusion, Will Self is in essense prodding the reader into personal deliberation over the concepts presented. Unfortunately, if this be the case, these same concepts have seen so much activity in modern psychology that for the author to not thoroughly conclude his own insights leads one not into pondering personal beliefs in the matter, but what the author might have been trying to convey. A fruitless task as Self, undoubtedly, tries to be as enigmatic as possible.

Luckily Self's mastery of language and metaphor, even during points where one might feel unsatisfied with the content, makes this book hard to put down. He easily achieves the daunting task of having a work sopping with verbose floridity while still being both easily readable and completely coherent. The development of his characters and concepts is quite clear and clean, an intimidating feat while having to develop both observations as well as descent into 'madness' on the same pages. Self is able to portray lunacy with impecable flair, often times the feeling of madness transposing itself from prose to reader with every turn of the page.

'The Quantity Theory of Insanity' should be read for it's unequaled portrayals of the subject matter as well as the interesting, albeit fragmentary, social commentary. Positions and answers however, should not be sought here.