It would do this book a great injustice to say that one of my favourite parts (of my edition, anyway) is the selection of reviewers' comments in the opening pages - especially the negative ones! They are hilarious, and are followed up by a highly enjoyable, if controversial, story. Yes, it is a challenging read. But, heck, I am a total animal lover, a pacifist and totally unimaginative when it comes to human cruelty, and I love this book. Somehow, Iain Banks writes a character who regularly sets wasps up to kill themselves in his little "factory" (sometimes with a helping hand), and has no trouble setting alight a rabbit or a sheep, and is, yet, not a total turn-off to read (and it's written in first person!). I don't know that I would say that I could identify with Frank, but I could handle going along with him on his misadventures. And that last page makes it all worth it...

You know what? I haven't read this book in YEARS... I think it may have to go back on the "to-read" list...