I wept as I read the last few pages of Playground. Was that because of the power of the story, the beauty of the prose or because I knew I was experiencing something truly profound and beautiful and that moment would never be quite the same again?
I’m grateful that he is not the leader of some demonic sect as I know, after finishing Playground, I would immediately join his group and follow his every command. He’s written the perfect novel. It challenges, it amuses and takes you to uncharted territory.
The prose is such that you want to read it out loud to your friends immediately and makes you feel that, in some other state, you actually have met the characters in the book as they are so real. The story captures so much that is pressing and important about the world today. But he leads you gently and kindly.
His love of the ocean/planet is inspiring and his characters show all that is good and bad about the human condition in the 21st Century. You cannot read Playground and be unchanged.
I can only send gratitude for the toil and love he has poured into this novel and shared with me and the world. I will be pressing a copy into many people’s hands over the coming months with joy in my heart.