The Greatest Gift

by Danny Leigh (Author)

• Used

  Hardcover
  2004

  $4.48

  A dazzling tale, told with mordant wit, of the last seconds of a man's life as he leaps from a nine-storey building. Matthew Viss just wants to help. That's all he ever wanted. So it's lucky he works at The Greatest Gift - the city's premier concierge service. Whether you need a limo to the airport, a name for your dog, or someone to wait in your flat for the repairman, Matthew can help. He'll run your whole life - and he'll do it with a smile. This is the story of his downfall. A blackly comic and frequently moving account of a life going haywire in the service industry, Danny Leigh's debut is set in a world we often encounter but seldom notice. Written in prose that is at once hugely imaginative and brilliantly precise, The Greatest Gift marks the arrival of a remarkable new talent.

• Used

  Paperback
  2005

  $3.36

  A dazzling tale, told with great humour, of the last seconds of a man's life as he leaps from a nine-storey building. Matthew Viss works for the city's premier concierge service. Whatever you need, he can provide. And he'll do it with a smile. He just wants to help - that's all he's ever wanted to do. The Greatest Gift is the story of his downfall. 'Leigh's prose is discomforting, his free-form style a reflection of Matthew's free-falling life, and there are echoes of Chuck 'Fight-Club' Palahniuk ... A complex, affecting debut, suggesting the emergence of an exciting talent.' Daily Mail 'The Greatest Gift, a withering report on the emptiness and narcissism of the corporate world ... Leigh has steered away from the familiar territory of the first-time novelist ... and delivered something more distinctive. What looks like a satire on contemporary office life becomes an allegory about loftier themes - friendship, compulsion, identity and desire.' Daily Telegraph

• New

  Paperback
  2005

  $10.46

  A dazzling tale, told with great humour, of the last seconds of a man's life as he leaps from a nine-storey building. Matthew Viss works for the city's premier concierge service. Whatever you need, he can provide. And he'll do it with a smile. He just wants to help - that's all he's ever wanted to do. The Greatest Gift is the story of his downfall. 'Leigh's prose is discomforting, his free-form style a reflection of Matthew's free-falling life, and there are echoes of Chuck 'Fight-Club' Palahniuk ... A complex, affecting debut, suggesting the emergence of an exciting talent.' Daily Mail 'The Greatest Gift, a withering report on the emptiness and narcissism of the corporate world ... Leigh has steered away from the familiar territory of the first-time novelist ... and delivered something more distinctive. What looks like a satire on contemporary office life becomes an allegory about loftier themes - friendship, compulsion, identity and desire.' Daily Telegraph