from the introduction to "The Book of Ultimate Truths":
He had known many previous incarnations. And then some.
He had walked the Earth as Nostradamus, Uther Pendragon, Count Cagliostro and Rodrigo Borgia. Although probably not in that order.
He spoke seventeen languages, played darts with the Dalai Lama, and shared his sleeping bag with Rasputin, Albert Einstein, Lawrence of Arabia, and George Formby.
He was worshipped as a god by an East Acton cargo cult and once scaled Everest in a smoking-jacket and plus-fours to win a bet with Oscar Wilde.
He travelled to Venus in the Company of George Adamski, reinvented the ocarina and was burned in effigy by The Chiswick Townswomen's Guild.
...The Master explains, in terms understandable to to the layman, exactly what life is really all about. Why there are always two small screws left over when you reassemble that broken toaster. Where all the yellow-handled screwdrivers go to. Why supermarket trolleys congregate beneath canal bridges. How the thermos flask knows what to kepp hot and what to keep cold. Why the aspirin is only guessing. Where all the road cones come from and where they go afterwards and why it's always right where you're driving. The myth of 'dry' cleaning. Dog-turd geomancy. How Arran sweaters grow while you sleep. Why it is impossible to be first in a post office queue and much much more.
...But, although under constant threat of assassination or litigation, Hugo Rune was never afraid to speak out, name names and point the finger of accusation. His modest aim was to increase mankind's knowledge and single-handedly bring about World Peace.