Listening to the budget yesterday, I was struck by how familiar much of it seemed. After a depressing hour or so I returned to “The Drowners“, and realized why this might be. The world around us is much closer to the decade of greed in the 80s than many would admit. The characters from “Death of the Elver Man” are all fictional but they are also based on types I met and knew during my years in Somerset. There are Kevins out there, and Laurens and even Adas. The 80s were a very unforgiving time – I’m worried for them in this new age of inequality and self-interest.