About Deep Hanging Out

It is 1981 and while Britain enjoys the full impact of Thatcherism, Cosmo Flute, a brilliant and dissolute young painter, and his friend Ruben Fortuna, a street-wise Argentinian photographer, flee to the Greek island of Crete to indulge in alternating spells of painting, drinking, and some really Deep Hanging Out. Much of their leisure time is spent in local bistro The Unspeakable, where waiter Igbar Zoff serves squid, pig's testicles and dodgy wine to the local loafers, and sows confusion in the minds of unsuspecting customers with his improbable tales. Events turn serious when Cosmo and Ruben accidentally witness secret US military activity on the island and are drawn into a shadowy world of espionage and counter-espionage. When Cosmo becomes involved with a young woman who carries an explosive secret, the fallout will propel Cosmo and Ruben through the death throes of the Cold War, and Crete's bloody history of sacrifice and betrayal, to a stunning climax amid the running of the bulls in Pamplona.

About Richard Gwyn

Richard Gwyn was born and grew up in south Wales. While studying anthropology at the London School of Economics, he harboured ambitions as a poet and made several luminary appearances at punk gigs in the late 1970s, including a memorable support act to The Cure. He moved to Crete and bought a six-metre fishing boat, describing himself as a refugee from Thatcherism. For the next nine years he travelled on and around the Mediterranean forming enduring links with people, places and wooden boats. However, after a long, revelatory walk across northern Spain, he decided to return to Wales. His first novel, The Colour of a Dog Running Away (2005), set in the Gothic quarter of Barcelona, is published by Parthian in the UK, Doubleday in the USA, and has been translated into several languages. His second novel, Deep Hanging Out (2007) is published by Snowbooks. more

Praise

"One of the most unique, absorbing reads to emerge for quite some time . . . [the book's] unflinching originality and readability give it a charm entirely its own - its headspinning climax is particularly wonderful, and, much like the rest of the book, confusing, engrossing, and utterly enjoyable. Basically it kicks the shit out of the Da Vinci Code." Quench Magazine on Richard Gwyn's last novel.

"Clever, stylish and supremely entertaining . . . this novel offers a feast of sophisticated pleasures and a taste of deeper passions too." Boyd Tonkin, The Independent

"A really great story, fantastic. A fabulous ripping yarn that deserves to be read because it's just a really great properly-told story . . . fab." BBC Radio Two Weekender "Gwyn's writing, immediate but with a runic quality, is engaging." Nicholas Clee, The Guardian

"The difficult second novel has proven no stumbling block to Richard Gwyn, as his rich, dark and beautiful novel so aptly proves. The preposterously named Cosmo Flute is a painter practising "deep hanging out" on the isle of Crete, when his foundations are shaken as he and his friend, Argentinean photographer Ruben Fortune, witness cold-war US undercover military shenanigans. Drinking and painting give way to drinking and espionage, and lead Gwyn's eclectic cast to the encierro in Pamplona and a date with an angry bull. Sinister humour and Gwyn's understated prose poetry renders a Crete resplendent in history and mystery." Western Mail Review