There is no real story behind the book beyond a conversation with British singer-songwriter Joe Solo about the difficulty of writing about the First World War.

This sparked one of the 'Magogia' stories here which satirises war by giving it an office worker ethos with shopping days and flexitime.

The magical-realist stories grew from there.

This is a book that some people absolutely love and others absolutely loathe. You will know which definitively after the first chapter.

In its original paperback version it is literally 'revolutionary' - the 'his' stories read one way, the 'her' stories read the other, and you have to flip the book between the two, reading them in whatever order you like. Sadly this is not possible here.