Daniel Miller believes he is in a book and that an author is making him do horrible thing. Daniel Miller is a sixty something year old man who believes that an all knowing author is controlling his life.
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Part one: Into the forest.
Daniel is in a psychiatric doctors office explaining that they are in a book, when he comes up with the idea to use lines from the bible in his thoughts. He believes that if he quotes the bible enough the book he lives in can never be published and thus he can escape his nightmarish literary world.
Daniel is suddenly writing a thesis on his theory of existence in a library, trying to convince those around him that he is not crazy. He curses the author for making him think about sex so much. He misses his ex-wife and blames this on the author too.
Convinced that if he makes the story more boring the author will stop writing it, Daniel drives into the woods. He wanders the woods aimlessly try to think of a way out.
Part two: Acid and Lollipop
The author addresses the audience and admits that he is torturing Daniel Miller. The author says that he does not care about Daniel Miller but he does care about people twisting his word against him and states that Daniel might have said the author is horrible and sex obsessed but he is not.
He points out all of the similarities between himself and Daniel miller then says that even though they are very similar and share a similar past they are not the same. The narrator stresses that this book is not autobiographical.
The author continues to moan about his critics, then analyses the fears and drives of Daniel miller.
He tells the reader that all rumours surrounding him are untrue and that the shutting off of his electricity was totally uncalled for. He then recounts a conversation with his agent on how to repair his reputation, and what his next book should be about.
He talks about how his wife leaving him was a betray, then recounts all of the sexual acts he committed with a young woman whilst in his marriage. He hates his wife's new boyfriend and wishes that he still had someone.
Part three: One sort of ending
Daniel Miller wakes up in the forest and tries to run away from the narrator. He then exclaims that the author is gone and that he is free.
Part four: oak and attic
An unknown narrator tells the story of the author's life. The author has fallen asleep at his desk. He wakes to find that he has finished his story about Daniel Miller. He decides that he hates the story and he hates his life.
He goes outside but everyone stares at him. The author begins to charge around the streets in a paranoid rage.
He finds a café and watches a prostitute coerce customers into taking her home. He imagines all of the things he would do to her then thinks himself sick for imaging them.
He goes home to masturbate but finds a letter he forgot about from his wife pleading that he return her the money for the house they bought together.
The author gets drunk and announces that he's moving to Australia. He then gets out his book to torture Daniel some more and make himself feel better.
Part five: The education of children
Daniel is now well adjusted, but he still has dark sexual desires. He finds a prostitute at a café and asks to go home with her.
She takes him up to her cheap, poorly constructed apartment and tries to have sex with him. Daniel is worried about all the exposed wires, the prostitute tells him to be quite or he'll wake her baby.
He admits that he has stalked her and she says that she won't sleep with him until he offers her more money. Daniel becomes upset and swears at her. They then have very loud sex.
Part six: Trying to begin
The author, who claims to have written everything, now speaks to the audience saying that the book was once in a very different order and that part three was the true end and that you should go read that.
Best part of story, including ending:
I think the book loses track of it point because it just wants to seem deep and thoughtful through multiple narrators.
Best scene in story:
I was incredibly intrigued the first time you hear the author speak, I thought that it gave the story a very unique feel.
Opinion about the main character:
I thought that Daniel was a bit repetitive, and he quoted too many biblical passages.
