Barnes starts with a first chapter that reads like a wonderful short story about Martha’s childhood and her parent’s divorce. Then, completely changing tones, he moves on to the second part which felt much more like a novel-in-progress – characters in different stages of development, the “idea” being forced on you in ever-more-pretentious ways, and a digression into literal “potty” humor that I guess was supposed to be amusing but actually made me want to vomit. Finally, again changing tone, Barnes goes further into the future and gives an epilogue long on narration that feels like the end of a lecture. The entire thing felt very unfinished, rushed, undeveloped. The idea behind the book isn’t as witty as Barnes wants us to believe, and the long passages of his characters debating the Project of England, England grow more and more tedious and unnecessary. I can’t give it a “Not Worth Consuming” because of the gem of a first chapter and a few sparkles scattered throughout the rest of the book (Dr. Johnson in particular), but not something I would recommend to anyone.