One of these places is the Land of Children's Jokes where he finds an armless and legless man in a swimming pool - and guess what his name is? Bob.
There is also a baby covered in blood in the corner eating razor blades. This answers the question, 'What's red all over and sits in the corner?' There are other, more scary things in the Land of Children's Jokes.
Ian doesn't live there all of the time (I think this is one of the true dreams Ian repeatedly has.) Most the time he lives in a world where a man called The Fat Controller is his mentor. This man teaches him how to retroscend - or sink back into the history of a person, place or thing. This ability allows him to see what came before when the before is an unknown. The Fat Controller teaches him many other things as well.
In one of Ian's realities he is a murderer of people and dogs. While the book was not graphic about the murder of the humans, it was graphic about the murder of the dog. Nothing that I read before or after the incident gave reason why he did this. For this reason alone, I would say don't read the book because the torture of the dog was horrific.
I've read two of Self's books now and neither have made any sense. I won't be reading any more. Harrumph.
Rating: 1 / 10
ISBN: 0871135655
Publisher: The Atlantic Monthly Press
Edition: 1st Edition