The highly anticipated new novel from the critically acclaimed author of Tokyo Cancelled. Solo recounts the life and daydreams of a reclusive one hundred year-old man from Bulgaria. Before the man lost his sight, he read this story in a magazine: a group of explorers came upon a community of parrots speaking the language of a society that had been wiped out in a recent catastrophe. Astonished by their discovery, they put the parrots in cages and sent them home so that linguists could record what remained of the lost language. But the parrots, already traumatised by the devastation they had recently witnessed, died on the way. Wondering if, unlike the hapless parrots, he has any wisdom to leave to the world, Ulrich embarks on an epic armchair journey through a century of violent politics, forbidden music, lost love and failed chemistry, finding his way eventually to an astonishing epiphany of tenderness and enlightenment.

This book is for the fan and the analyst, by two writers who consider themselves fans and analysts in equal measure. It follows the career of Sachin Ramesh Tendulkar, demi-god and cricketer – his rise, his peak, his dark phase, and his resurrection. It asks the tough questions asked of him, through the lens of statistics. Numbers are not everything, but once one has framed and understood the context, they are certainly stronger than opinions. The authors seek to compare him with his peers in both major forms of the game and present the data so that the reader can independently draw conclusions. And if you still believe Sachin isn't god's gift to the world of cricket, well, god help you!