The Ministry of Bodies has much of what we expect from O’Mahony — it’s blunt, witty, erudite, curmudgeonly — but I don’t think it’s his best book. The structure is too bitty, the case studies fragmented between chapters, reflecting his belief that he is what Julian Barnes calls an episodicist (as opposed to a narrativist) who sees no unifying theme or meaning in life, only absurdity.
