War of the Encyclopaedists - Hardcover

Robinson, Christopher; Kovite, Gavin

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 024114678X ISBN 13: 9780241146781

Publisher: Hamish Hamilton, 2015

Synopsis

War of the Encyclopaedists is Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite's dazzling literary debut.

On a summer night in an arty enclave of Seattle, friends Mickey Montauk and Halifax Corderoy throw one last blowout party before their lives part ways. They had planned to move together to Boston, but global events have intervened: Montauk has just learnt that his National Guard unit will deploy to Baghdad at the end of the summer. And Corderoy is faced with a moral dilemma: his girlfriend Mani has just been evicted and he must decide whether or not to abandon her when she needs him most. The year that follows will transform them all.

'This book has sweep and heart and humour. It captures coming of age during foreign wars and domestic malaise, and it does so with electrifying insight' Mary Karr, author of The Liars' Club

'As bizarre, hilarious and devastating as the past decade . . . Simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a war story, and a story of the disaffected millennial generation for whom the war hardly happened at all' Phil Klay, author of Redeployment

About this title

Review

Publisher's description. Hilarious and heartbreaking, a coming-of-age tale for modern America. Mickey and Halifax are best friends: held together by a sense of humour, shared memories, world-class parties, but pushed apart by circumstance, growing up, the Iraq War and girls. After high school, thrust into new lives worlds apart, they must decide what friendship and happiness really mean. (Penguin)

This book has sweep and heart and humor. It captures coming of age during foreign wars and domestic malaise, and it does so with electrifying insight (Mary Karr, author of The Liars' Club, Cherry, and Lit)

As bizarre, hilarious and devastating as the past decade . . . Simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a war story, and a story of the disaffected millennial generation for whom the war hardly happened at all (Phil Klay, author of Redeployment)

Smart and entertaining . . . [a] likable, highly readable, double-bylined coming-of-age first novel (Kirkus)

From the Back Cover

'Extraordinary, woven together with enormous energy, wit and verve. An extremely moving story, hugely ambitious' Sunday Times

'It was the Friday before Independence Day and the twentysomethings of early-millennium Seattle were celebrating alcohol and freedom as they had done every Friday since time immemorial . . .'

Mickey Montauk and Halifax Corderoy - the Encyclopaedists - are throwing their last party. Halifax is heading to Boston and grad school. Mickey, on the other hand, is taking a platoon to Iraq.

Students of life and literature, neither man is ready for the real world - especially now they are separated by thousands of miles. Alone each must face love and death, essays and bullets, their tricky, overlapping relationships with Mani and Tricia. Their only connection is the Encyclopaedists' Wikipedia page, which the pair update regularly. But what happens when the careless and carefree turn tragic?

'Beautifully written, haunting' Guardian

'Rather brilliant, shrewd, funny and heartfelt. It's like Franzen crossed with David Abram's Fobbit' Independent

'Massive in scale. In addition to being a novel about the war in Iraq, this is also a novel about Wikipedia, a coming-of-age novel, a campus novel, a book about love, betrayal, friendship and phonies. The authors' ingenuity is everywhere on show. Clever things abound' TLS

'A terrific coming-of-age novel. Old-fashioned excellence' The Times

About this edition

• Publisher: Hamish Hamilton
• Publication date: 2015
• ISBN 10: 024114678X
• ISBN 13: 9780241146781
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 448