What would happen if a tycoon decided to turn England into a theme park? Before anyone could say "Windsor Castle, " replicas of all of the kingdom's great landmarks from the Tower of London and Westminster Abbey to the National Gallery and everything in between all turn up in one place. And what if credit-worthy tourist could escape to this island that permits vast expense accounts and prohibits paparazzi? This hilarious notion is the premise of acclaimed novelist Julian Barnes's (Flaubert's Parrot) simultaneously funny and moving comic romp, England, England. The Sunday Times (London) raved: "There is no more intelligent writer on the literary scene, " and this witty, wistful, thoroughly wonderful book is ample proof.

Julian Barnes is the author of nime novels, a book of stories, and a collection of essays. He is the recipient of the Prix Femina, and in 1988 was made an Officer de I'Order de Artes et des Lettres. He Lives in London.