Fup is a tale of two humans, one duck and several vats of home-brewed whisky

There's Grandaddy Jake Santee, 99 years old, an unreformed gambler, cranky reprobate and fierce opponent of the work ethic. Thanks to his home-distilled hooch, Ol' Death Whisper, he reckons he's in with good shot at immortality. And then there's Tiny, adopted at the age of four by Grandaddy Jake, a giant young man as gentle as Jake is belligerent.

And then there's Fup, an uncompromising twenty-pound mallard, partial to a drink herself, whose unique presence transforms the Santee household.

Hilarious, heartwarming and magical, Fup is a contemporary fable that inspires an almost evangelical fervour in all who read it. It is a work of enormous originality with a giant heart.

"I was a "wilderness educator" back in Texas in the mid-eighties . . . At night I used to read these tough, streetwise kids to sleep - Catcher in the Rye, The Grapes of Wrath, and a fable called Fup by Jim Dodge. They loved Fup in particular, a fable about a duck . . . I still hear from these kids - they're all over the country now and generally they're out of trouble, except for the fact that they might be reading Fup to their kids" - * Paris Review *

"A fairytale ending worthy of Oscar Wilde" - * Sunday Telegraph *

"You'll love it" - * Independent on Sunday *

"Short, sharp and wickedly funny" - * Elle *

"Delightful and constantly surprising. Jim Dodge has produced something rare: a fairy tale that is wonderfully down to earth." - * Daily Telegraph *

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A short, masterful and unusual fable.

"This novel is fupped uck." - * The Times *

"Stupendous. It is a jewel, a gem, a diamond in the cesspool of life." - * San Francisco Chronicle *

"A timeless fable that is vibrant, vital, poetic and full of humanity, this is a short but perfectly formed work that you can come back to again and again." - * Waterstone's Books Quarterly *

"If you fell in love with Babe then you'll love Fup. Simple, touching and refreshingly short" - * The Face *

"A pint-sized powerpack of a novel. It's got everything" - * Big Issue *

"Fup shows Jim Dodge to be one of the most original literary voices" - * Elle *