Previous
Rufus Sixsmith
Dermot Hoggins is a memoirist with a criminal history. He publishes his book, Knuckle Sandwich, through Timothy Cavendish’s vanity press. The book remains obscure until Dermot gets so angry with the literary critic Felix Finch that he throws him off a roof and kills him. The murder makes Dermot instantly famous, and sales of Knuckle Sandwich soar. Unfortunately for Dermot, the restrictive terms of his contract with Timothy mean that most of the profits go to Timothy. This doesn’t sit well with Dermot’s brothers, who are just as violent as him and try to extort Timothy for money, starting a chain of events that ends with Timothy confined in the Aurora House nursing home. The events of Dermot’s life satirize the publishing industry and fame in general, showing how all publicity is good publicity and how some people try to exploit tragedy for personal gain.
Dermot Hoggins Quotes in Cloud Atlas
The Cloud Atlas quotes below are all either spoken by Dermot Hoggins or refer to Dermot Hoggins. For each quote, you can also see the other characters and themes related to it (each theme is indicated by its own dot and icon, like this one:
).
Chapter 4 Quotes
I will not deny a nascent sense of a silver lining to this tragic turn. My Haymarket office suite housed ninety-five unsold shrink-wraps of Dermot Hoggins’s Knuckle Sandwich, impassioned memoir of Britain’s soon to be most famous murderer. Frank Sprat—my stalwart printer in Sevenoaks, to whom I owed so much money I had the poor man over a barrel—still had the plates and was ready to roll at a moment’s notice.
Hardcovers, ladies and gentlemen.
Fourteen pounds ninety-nine pence a shot.
A taste of honey!
Related Characters:
Related Themes:
Page Number and Citation:
Explanation and Analysis:
Get the entire Cloud Atlas LitChart as a printable PDF.
"My students can't get enough of your charts and their results have gone through the roof." -Graham S.
Dermot Hoggins Character Timeline in Cloud Atlas
The timeline below shows where the character Dermot Hoggins appears in Cloud Atlas. The colored dots and icons indicate which themes are associated with that appearance.
Chapter 4
Timothy says he got distracted and actually intended to start his story with Dermot “Duster” Hoggins. At the start of the story, Timothy is Dermot’s editor. Timothy is at...
(full context)
Dermot, who will later become famous for a book called Knuckle Sandwich, wants to talk to...
(full context)
Still at the bar for the literary event, Dermot is enraged when he sees a man named Felix Finch. Suddenly Dermot clangs some trays...
(full context)
...how he jumps around in time in his own story. He says that shortly after Dermot threw Finch off the roof, Knuckle Sandwich climbed to the top of the bestseller charts....
(full context)
...collectors. One day, three burly intruders break into Timothy’s home. Timothy realizes that they are Dermot’s three brothers. One of the brothers says Dermot is getting frustrated with Timothy. Timothy tries...
(full context)
...train. He makes it to Cambridge and finds a shabby hotel for travelers. He imagines Dermot’s brothers are probably robbing his house and not finding much to take. He reads a...
(full context)
Chapter 8
...Veronica. Timothy tries to contact his old secretary, who fills him in on what happened. Dermot’s brothers tore apart his publishing company after he failed to provide the money. The destruction...
(full context)
Timothy ponders his future. He figures that if Dermot can write a bestseller, maybe Timothy can too. He also sends an email to the...
(full context)
