Julian Barnes makes perhaps the ultimate leap in claiming culture for entertainment in this novel where a small island off the coast of the United Kingdom is purchased simply for the sake of turning it into an amusement park--a miniature version of England, nonetheless--named England, England. There, any tourist can experience all that typifies English culture without having to deal with any of its flaws or unknowns. The place will be real to those who visit, as real to them as if they visited actual England. Because they'll never know the difference.

Told with somehow witty yet slapstick humor, this novel was particularly enjoyable for me, as I read it after spending time in the UK. Barnes deftly puts the reader in place as the highest judge of culture by creating men and women that are never totally knowable; it is up to you to make them accountable to the world they're creating, and in doing so, you see just how much appropriation goes on in generating perspectives on the world around us. A thought-provoking read, and funny as hell.