Runners

In 'Runners' John Fraser delivers, in his unique, distinctive voice, the story of a kind of redemption – even a kind of utopia – or as much of a utopia as we can possibly expect, given what we know about most of our political leaders … An unelected leader buys the office of deputy mayor. Although this ‘boss’ is a monster, he also has a rare, enlightened side. Where other leaders cling to power, he runs – but instead of running for office, he runs from office; he and his friends become the Runners – the running dogs. Runners is a contemporary remake of Machiavelli’s Prince with a nod to Gramsci’s ‘Modern Prince’, the revolutionary party. It is a tale of complicity between leaders, the nature of political friendships and loyalties, the contradictions between leaders and electors, between democratic rhetoric and practice, the leadership and the base – the urban and feathered – the volatility, adaptability and motivations of leaders, and of the pursuit of justice in the personal, incongruous instance; the machismo of political culture. ‘In Fraser’s fiction the reader rides as on a switchback or luge of impetuous attention, with effects flashing by at virtuoso speeds. The characters seem to be unwitting agents of chaos, however much wise reflection Fraser bestows upon them; they move with shrugging self-assurance through circumstances as richly detailed and as without reliable compass-points as a Chinese scroll.’ (John Fuller)