Wu Ming means 'no name' - and therefore 'anonymous' - in Mandarin Chinese. The five members of the Wu Ming Foundation live in Bologna. Their first novel, Q, written under the name Luther Blissett, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.

The year: 1954, the height of the Cold War.

The world is divided into East and West.

In Naples, Lucky Luciano and his minions are busy fixing horse races, and overseeing the creation of the global heroin trade.

In Hollywood, members of Her Majesty's Secret Service have a dangerous mission for the supremely elegant actor Cary Grant.

And in Bologna, Pierre Capponi, a lovelorn young barman, is about to embark on a painful odyssey in search of his missing father, one that will end up taking him halfway around the world.

And bringing together all these strands and more is a missing television set, a McGuffin Electric, an appliance with a very special secret...

The Background

Part One: Sipan

Part Two: McGuffin Electric

Coda

End Titles