A tragicomic portrait of one man's unravelling in an absurd, twisted world, Howl is the propulsive new novel from Booker-Prize winner Howard Jacobson.
'A howling comic masterpiece' Patrick Marber
'Boils with fury and fizzes with life' Jonathan Freedland
In the aftermath of October 7, Ferdinand Draxler walks the streets of London in despair. Everything has changed - the sights, the sound, the spirit. He too is not who he was. Is he at the crossroads of history or is it just a bend in the cul-de-sac of his own gloomy nature?
The son of a Holocaust survivor who accuses him of cowardice and the father of a daughter who sees him as complicit in genocide, Draxler fixates on bad news. He shouts at the television. He carries his own tin of paint to cover up graffiti. The staffroom at the primary school of which he is headmaster has become a battlefield of inflamed opinion he does nothing to quiet.
His wife Charmian is a beacon of calm but even she isn't sure she can save Ferdie from himself. 'Don't worry about me,' he tells her. 'I don't have what it takes to go mad.'
'He just gets better and better' Giles Coren
| ISBN: | 9781787336445 |
| Publication date: | 5th March 2026 |
| Author: | Howard Jacobson |
| Publisher: | Jonathan Cape an imprint of Vintage Publishing |
| Format: | Hardback |
| Pagination: | 294 pages |
| Genres: |
Modern and Contemporary Fiction Narrative theme: Interior life Narrative theme: Politics Narrative theme: Social issues |
A tragicomic portrait of one man's unravelling in an absurd, twisted world, Howl is the propulsive new novel from Booker-Prize winner Howard Jacobson.
'A howling comic masterpiece' Patrick Marber
'Boils with fury and fizzes with life' Jonathan Freedland
In the aftermath of October 7, Ferdinand Draxler walks the streets of London in despair. Everything has changed - the sights, the sound, the spirit. He too is not who he was. Is he at the crossroads of history or is it just a bend in the cul-de-sac of his own gloomy nature?
The son of a Holocaust survivor who accuses him of cowardice and the father of a daughter who sees him as complicit in genocide, Draxler fixates on bad news. He shouts at the television. He carries his own tin of paint to cover up graffiti. The staffroom at the primary school of which he is headmaster has become a battlefield of inflamed opinion he does nothing to quiet.
His wife Charmian is a beacon of calm but even she isn't sure she can save Ferdie from himself. 'Don't worry about me,' he tells her. 'I don't have what it takes to go mad.'
'He just gets better and better' Giles Coren
Howl features in the following genres: Modern and Contemporary Fiction, Narrative theme: Interior life, Narrative theme: Politics, Narrative theme: Social issues
Howl is available in Hardback
Howl was written by Howard Jacobson and published by Jonathan Cape an imprint of Vintage Publishing
Howl has 294 pages
£18.00