One of the most surreal urban fantasy books I have ever read.

In its surrealism it reminded me a little bit of [b:The Satanic Verses|12781|The Satanic Verses|Salman Rushdie|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1281988101l/12781.SX50.jpg|1434467], except that I found I sympathised more with the characters in [b:The Raw Shark Texts|144800|The Raw Shark Texts|Steven Hall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1405099268l/144800.SX50.jpg|938197], so I was able to finish it. It also reminded me a little of Jean Genet's play [b:The Balcony|163767|The Man on the Balcony (Martin Beck, #3)|Maj Sjöwall|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320419982l/163767.SY75.jpg|158098], in its surrealism, if little else.

Eric Sanderson, traumatised by the drowning of his girlfriend Clio on the Greek island of Naxos, loses his memory, but finds a whole lot of instructions from his previous self, including the instruction to go to a psychotherapist. The rest of the instructions concern how to protect him from a conceptual shark, the Ludivician, by surrounding himself with words. He sets out on an epic quest with very few clues to find a Dr Trey Fidorous, who might be able to help him. On the way he meets a girl called Scout, who seemed to help him, but is pursuing her own agenda. He is accompanied in his quest by his cat Ian, who also has his own agenda.