Some people have a bad hair day. For Algy Tuckett, his hair is the least of his problems. One October morning in 1932, Algy, a 22-year old junior clerk at Gurney and Barman's wool mill, awakes to find himself transformed into a frail old clown. In fact, not only has his appearance changed, but so have his surroundings and all the people he knows. The dictionary definition of an Auguste is a circus clown. This archetype is what Algy has become, the ragged little hobo who gets the pie in his face. Surprisingly unperturbed by this, he attempts to make it to his office, or to a doctor's,...

One of the bonuses of youth is that it has not accumulated enough decisions to regret. But, as age creeps in, future possibilities of regret become sparser, and decisions more urgent. At the age of forty, Steve Verity, part-time painter and part-time tutor in arts and crafts - slightly balding, beer-paunch-ridden and generally unsatisfied with his lot, needs to re-invigorate his perspective on life. To rub salt in his wounds, he has just been given marching orders from his comfortable cottage home by his 'other half' of four years standing. It is fair to say that it is time for a thorough...