the characters in this extraordinary book are often - on the surface - depraved, vicious, cowardly and manipulative, but their essential humanity is never undermined. two professors of philosophy turn pugilists; leith removal men become the objects of desire for hollywood goddesses; god turns boab coyle into a house-fly; and in the novella, ``a smart cunt``, the drug-addled young hero spins off on a collision course with his past. the acid house is a bizarre, disturbing and hilarious collection from one of the most uncompromising and original writers around.