Rules of Duel

Depressed reporter Tom Crisp, sometimes known as A14, finds himself embroiled in a web of intrigue as he tries to make sense of his incarceration at Tin Type Hall. ‘Just telling you’ his story unravels in a series of ‘silver film’ as he finds himself in a world full of double-agents such as the psychotic Motherwell the Everlasting Executioner, John Remorse the Serjeant of Time Film and Samuel Baptist the HM Inspector of Brothels. In a world where sexually-charged sofas ejaculate black horse hair and the Hypocritic Oath is blamed for failed medical procedures, Crisp stands helplessly by as Jack Beauregard, the Eater of Cities, is hunted down. It could all be the fault of the Mysterious Babies … but then maybe you can feel the ‘Cold Sun’ … Graham Masterton wrote Rules of Duel between 1964 and 1970, when he was friends with William S Burroughs, the creator of the intersection writing technique. Recently rediscovered, it stands as a thought-provoking, triumphant and poetic tribute to Burroughs. Rules of Duel is a clever and pervasive novel that turns literature on its head and makes the reader work to be part of the evolving plot. Complete with an original introduction by Burroughs, written before his death in 1997, Rules of Duel is a previously unpublished masterpiece from two of the greatest writers of their generations.