Cock and Bull

Cock and Bull
Cock and Bull  
Cabbok.jpg
1st edition
Author(s) Will Self
Country United Kingdom
Language English
Genre(s) Novel
Publisher Bloomsbury Publishing
Publication date Oct 1992
Media type Print
Pages 224
ISBN 0-7475-1274-4
OCLC Number 27136296

Cock and Bull is the title of a volume composed of two novellas by Will Self, which includes the stories Cock and Bull. The two stories are characterized by empty, emotionless, phatic sex; rape; cruelty; and violence. The book was originally published in 1992 by Bloomsbury.[1]

Contents

Plot summaries

Cock

A woman grows a penis and then uses it to rape her tedious, alcoholic husband and his patronising, evangelical mentor from Alcoholics Anonymous. In the story's final twist, the woman comes into non-consensual contact with her violating member, and makes allusions to the Ancient Mariner's Tale.

Bull

A sensitive rugby player cum writer for a small magazine grows a vagina behind his knee. His megalomaniacal general practitioner, having discovered the vagina during an examination, conceals it from Bull, telling him it was 'a burn and a wound', though later visits Bull at home, fixated on this popliteal lingam. The doctor, removing the bandages from the site, reveals the truth, and seduces Bull while he is traumatised and huddled beneath the sink. Gender stereotypes are examined; much fun is made of modern literary criticism and its often clichéd takes on the gender debate.

Reviews

"In recounting such events, Mr. Self demonstrates an uncanny ability, similar to that displayed by Kafka in "The Metamorphosis," to lend utterly absurd events an aura of verisimilitude by grounding the fantastic in the mundane. He possesses all those gifts a satiric writer might want: an eye for the telling detail, an ear for the pretensions of contemporary locution, an ability to write idiosyncratic prose that twinkles with cleverness and wit. Unfortunately, in this volume, these copious gifts are all too frequently put in the service of a misogynistic and ridiculously sophomoric vision. "[2] Michiko Kakutani, New York Times

References

  1. ^ Cock and Bull by Will Self
  2. ^ Kakutani, Michiko (1993-05-31). "Comic Novellas on Metamorphoses". New York Times. http://partners.nytimes.com/books/99/09/19/specials/self-bull.html. Retrieved 2009-02-13. 

External links



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Look at other dictionaries:

  • cock-and-bull — cockˈ and bullˈ adjective (of a story) fabricated and incredible • • • Main Entry: ↑cock …   Useful english dictionary

  • cock and bull — [B] nonsense, bull, BS [B]    Don t believe that cock and bull story about Bigfoot …   English idioms

  • cock and bull — adj. Cock and bull is used with these nouns: ↑story …   Collocations dictionary

  • Cock and bull — untrue ( cock and bull story ) …   Dictionary of Australian slang

  • cock and bull — Australian Slang untrue ( cock and bull story ) …   English dialects glossary

  • cock and bull story — UK US noun [countable] [singular cock and bull story plural cock and bull stories] informal a story that is silly and difficult to believe Thesaurus: types of story or play …   Useful english dictionary

  • cock-and-bull story — {n. phr.} An exaggerated or unbelievable story. * / Stop feeding me such cock and bull stories, the detective said to the suspect./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • cock-and-bull story — {n. phr.} An exaggerated or unbelievable story. * / Stop feeding me such cock and bull stories, the detective said to the suspect./ …   Dictionary of American idioms

  • Cock and bull story — Cock Cock (k[o^]k), n. [AS. coc; of unknown origin, perh. in imitation of the cry of the cock. Cf. {Chicken}.] 1. The male of birds, particularly of gallinaceous or domestic fowls. [1913 Webster] 2. A vane in the shape of a cock; a weathercock.… …   The Collaborative International Dictionary of English

  • cock-and-bull story — cock and bull stories N COUNT If you describe something that someone tells you as a cock and bull story, you mean that you do not believe it is true. [INFORMAL] Was it him who made you come to us with this cock and bull story? …   English dictionary

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