A potential cult classic – the Finnegans Wake of the 1990s.
A bulletin from a parallel universe where the relations between words and things are utterly changed.
Bewitchingly original, genuinely refreshing, The Age of Wire and String takes all of the linguistic value systems on which our great literature is based, chews them up and spits them out. At once artificial, bizarre and bewildering, this is a Finnegans Wake, a Tristram Shandy for the end of the millennium.
"synopsis" may belong to another edition of this title.
‘Transfixing... an extraordinary debut... The Age of Wire and String, a treasury of interconnected fables of violence and hope, stands out as an exhilarating work of literature. Multiple readings are rewarding.’
Steven Poole, TLS
‘Frequently touching and funny, plenty of madness, magic and gods... a cross between a scientific manual, Monty Python and a kind of Bible, with a surreal and opaque logic of its own.’
Christina Patterson, Observer
‘The Age of Wire and String evades classification, persisting in your mind because of its psychotically ardent prose... It will find its fans among those people who relish prose that mimics dream, who love it when words are used as they once were, as incantations, as spells to summon up the contorted beings of the imagination.’
Matthew De Abaitua, The Idler
‘The most audacious literary debut in decades’
Robert Coover
"'The Age of Wire and String' evades classification, persisting in your mind because of its psychotically ardent prose. It contains no debased images, no second-hand symbols. It will find its fans among those people who relish prose that mimics dream, who love it when words are used as they once were, as incantations, as spells to summon up the contorted beings of the imagination."
MATTHEW DE ABAITUA, 'The Idler'
"Transfixing...an extraordinary debut. The pervasive tone of the book is elegaic: buried among its leaves is a testament to personal loss, whose fragmented inscription gestures movingly at a sorrow that is too great for words; it is perhaps in this tragedy that the book's unique style has its genesis. Most contemporary fiction is afraid to make the reader work hard for understanding, and in consequence the reader's rewards are smaller. But 'The Age of Wire and String', a treasury of interconnected fables of violence and hope, stands out as an exhilarating work of literature. Multiple readings are rewarding."
STEVEN POOLE, TLS
"Intelligent and good-humoured, I believe this novel has a place within the chaotic tradition of Sterne's 'Tristram Shandy'. It follows that, if novels are to reflect the complexities of the modern world, they must take on some of its messy characteristics. There is no shortage of confusion here, in a book which describes itself as 'a catalog of the life project', as prosecuted in a time of uncertainty."
ANDREW BISWELL, 'Daily Telegraph'
"This is the most audacious literary debut in decades – witty, startlingly inventive, funny but fundamentally disturbing, language itself held together by whimsical bits of wire and string. Ben Marcus is one-of-a-kind stand-up phenom, a comic writer of power and originality. 'The Age of Wire and String' marks the arrival of a unique new talent in American letters."
ROBERT COOVER
"Frequently touching and funny, plenty of madness, magic and gods...a cross between a scientific manual, 'Monty Python' and a kind of Bible, with a surreal and opaque logic of its own."
CHRISTINA PATTERSON, 'Observer'
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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Fine. Seller Inventory # GOR011547353
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. The Age of Wire and String This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 7719-9780006550860
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This book is in very good condition and will be shipped within 24 hours of ordering. The cover may have some limited signs of wear but the pages are clean, intact and the spine remains undamaged. This book has clearly been well maintained and looked after thus far. Money back guarantee if you are not satisfied. See all our books here, order more than 1 book and get discounted shipping. Seller Inventory # 6545-9780006550860
Book Description Paperback. Condition: Used; Good. Dispatched, from the UK, within 48 hours of ordering. This book is in good condition but will show signs of previous ownership. Please expect some creasing to the spine and/or minor damage to the cover. Aged book. Tanned pages and age spots, however, this will not interfere with reading. Seller Inventory # CHL9431919