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FICTION:  Pilcrow, By Adam Mars-Jones, Faber & Faber, 525pp. £18.99ADAM MARS-JONES holds a peculiar place among contemporary English writers, writes John Boyne.

Since then, he has devoted himself almost exclusively to literary criticism and it seemed as if he had forsaken writing novels altogether in favour of reviewing them. But not so, for here is Pilcrow, an extraordinary and lengthy work which manages to be both enchanting and frustrating in almost equal parts.