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  • The Cockroach

  • By: Ian McEwan
  • Narrated by: Bill Nighy
  • Length: 2 hrs and 13 mins
  • 4.1 out of 5 stars (60 ratings)

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The Cockroach

By: Ian McEwan
Narrated by: Bill Nighy
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Publisher's summary

A brilliant, of-the-moment political satire like no other: here is Ian McEwan's Brexit-era take on Kafka's Metamorphosis, centered on a cockroach transformed into the prime minister of England.

That morning, Jim Sams, clever but by no means profound, woke from uneasy dreams to find himself transformed into a giant creature.

Jim Sams has undergone a metamorphosis. In his previous life he was ignored or loathed, but in his new incarnation he is the most powerful man in Britain - and it is his mission to carry out the will of the people. Nothing must get in his way; not the opposition, nor the dissenters within his own party. Not even the rules of parliamentary democracy.

In this bitingly funny Kafkaesque satire, Ian McEwan engages with scabrous humor a very recognizable political world and turns it on its head.

©2019 Ian McEwan (P)2019 Penguin Books
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What listeners say about The Cockroach

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Humorous anti-Brexit satire

This cleverly written spoof on British politics perfectly skewers politicians and recent bad policies. Non-Brits won't understand every jibe by author McEwan but the point is clear. Performed by the fantastic Bill Nighy, a comic genius who knows how to play for laughs.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

An excellent parody on life during Brexit

I thoroughly recommend this book and you don’t have to have read Metamorphosis to appreciate its wit and wisdom . McEwan at his best.

This is a book which had to be written, whose time has (unfortunately) come. , Welcome to the world of anti-clockwise economics and the politics of dung.

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this book is a fantasti!!!😱 funny and terrifying!

this book is a combination of funny and terrifying... fantastic story. narration very well interpreted. very realistic!!! 🤣😱

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    2 out of 5 stars
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too real for humor

not my favorite book by Ian McEwan. I guess my ability to find humor with the current administration

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