The debut collection of short fictions, philosophical vignettes and aphoristic interludes from the Booker Prize-winning author of Vernon God Little. Drawing on memoir and a life lived in pursuit of sensation, but always ignited by the flame of fiction, Petit Mal takes us further into the imagination of one of the most radically original prose stylists of the past decade. Accompanied by dozens of illustrations and photographic 'evidence', the stories here inhabit worlds defined by appetite, excess and transcendence. Whether through food, drink, sex, drugs, or a fantastic cocktail of all four, the impulse in this book is towards epiphany - and the inevitable hangover that follows.