Ironic and insightful, this novel satirizes the contemporary art scene even as it conducts an honest search for the soul of art. The last remnant of a 19th-century “domestic engineering” dynasty, Gavin Twinge is the founder of the “Doodaaa” group and the angriest voice in the British art scene. After meeting him at a bookstore, Ralphael Steed determines to tear the veil of mystery that surrounds the inspirational artist, a task that will take him (in a London taxi, no less) to the south of France, where Gavin and his cohorts are busy creating—between drinking binges—their epic installation The Philosophy of French Plumbing and discussing such culturally relevant topics as the soul-deadening effects of formal education and the history of the flush toilet.