Surveillance: A Novel - Hardcover

Raban, Jonathan

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375422447 ISBN 13: 9780375422447

Publisher: Pantheon, 2007

Synopsis

In a post-9/11 America that has become obsessed with security and intelligence gathering, Lucy Bengstrom struggles to support herself and her young daughter, Alida, on a meager income as a freelance journalist, until she is assigned to profile August Vanags, a retired professor turned best-selling author. 40,000 first printing.

About this title

Review

" When the going gets tough, the tough get nosy. And so, in this well-realized novel, does everyone else . . . A coolly delivered portrait of the Wired Age, when paranoia rules and truth is at a premium."
- "Kirkus Reviews"
" An air of suspenseful dread hangs over every page of this intelligent, provocative book, and when the end finally rolls in, readers will be stunned and, in some cases, outraged."
- "Publishers Weekly "(starred review)
" "Surveillance" is arguably the finest, most human, most chilling novel to have emerged in response to these desperate times."
- Martyn Bedford, "Literary Review"
" Of all the 9/11 books so far, "Surveillance" is perhaps the most disturbing because it offers scant comfort and no certainties."
- Ian Sansom, "The Spectator"
" Post 9/11, everyone watches and is being watched . . . In Raban' s black and brilliant portrait of his adopted city, all kinds of sinister forces filter and manipulate the truth. A wonderfully ironic, disturbing take on the un-privacy of modern life."
- Kate Saunders, "The Times" (London)
" Raban is deadly serious in his portrayal of a country running scared, but he also has a taste for sly social comedy: His ear for idiom is well-nigh faultless, be it the ironic locutions of Seattle school kids or the braying tones of a haughty Englishwoman, and his character-sketching is precise and assured."
- Anthony Quinn, "The Daily Telegraph"
" "Surveillanc"e is never less than absorbing in its treatment of people attempting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happinessaccording to their very different lights.."
- Sean O' Brien, "The Times Literary Supplement"
" One of the best attempts so far to engage with the post-- 9/11 world . . . Having devoted his career mainly to nonfiction, Raban is becoming one of our most insightful novelists."
- William Skidelsky, "New Statesman"
" If someone were to come along and tell me I had half an hour to put together a 2006 time capsule, Jonathan Raban' s new novel is the first thing I' d grab . . . Nothing else would come as close to distilling the particular attitudes and anxieties of our time as "Surveillance,""
- Toby Litt, "The Guardian"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"When the going gets tough, the tough get nosy. And so, in this well-realized novel, does everyone else . . . A coolly delivered portrait of the Wired Age, when paranoia rules and truth is at a premium."
-"Kirkus Reviews"
"An air of suspenseful dread hangs over every page of this intelligent, provocative book, and when the end finally rolls in, readers will be stunned and, in some cases, outraged."
-"Publishers Weekly "(starred review)
""Surveillance" is arguably the finest, most human, most chilling novel to have emerged in response to these desperate times."
-Martyn Bedford, "Literary Review"
"Of all the 9/11 books so far, "Surveillance" is perhaps the most disturbing because it offers scant comfort and no certainties."
-Ian Sansom, "The Spectator"
"Post 9/11, everyone watches and is being watched . . . In Raban's black and brilliant portrait of his adopted city, all kinds of sinister forces filter and manipulate the truth. A wonderfully ironic, disturbing take on the un-privacy of modern life."
-Kate Saunders, "The Times" (London)
"Raban is deadly serious in his portrayal of a country running scared, but he also has a taste for sly social comedy: His ear for idiom is well-nigh faultless, be it the ironic locutions of Seattle school kids or the braying tones of a haughty Englishwoman, and his character-sketching is precise and assured."
-Anthony Quinn, "The Daily Telegraph"
""Surveillanc"e is never less than absorbing in its treatment of people attempting life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness according to their very different lights.."
-Sean O'Brien, "The Times Literary Supplement"
"One of the best attempts so far to engage withthe post--9/11 world . . . Having devoted his career mainly to nonfiction, Raban is becoming one of our most insightful novelists."
-William Skidelsky, "New Statesman"
"If someone were to come along and tell me I had half an hour to put together a 2006 time capsule, Jonathan Raban's new novel is the first thing I'd grab . . . Nothing else would come as close to distilling the particular attitudes and anxieties of our time as "Surveillance,""
-Toby Litt, "The Guardian"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"As atmospheric with vague menace as a Hitchcock thriller." --Michael Dirda, "New York Review of Books"
"Scarily beautiful . . . . [Raban is] a gifted writer who explores the human condition with tenderness, empathy and rueful wit."
--"The Washington Post"
"A timely disquisition on the fragility of truth and identity in the information age." --Bloomberg News
"Raban is using fiction to explore the most important issues of our day and doing so at the highest artistic level." --"Oregonian"
"Heart-thumping dread permeates this creepy, stunning book." --"Tucson Citizen"
"Raban is a wonderful and cerebral stylist, a master of arresting syntactical inversions with an incisive view of our contemporary moment." --"Cleveland Plain Dealer"
"Mesmerizing. . . . Sharp and riveting. . . . A masterful job." --"Newsday"

"As atmospheric with vague menace as a Hitchcock thriller." --Michael Dirda, "New York Review of Books"

"Scarily beautiful . . . . [Raban is] a gifted writer who explores the human condition with tenderness, empathy and rueful wit."

--"The Washington Post"

"A timely disquisition on the fragility of truth and identity in the information age." --Bloomberg News

"Raban is using fiction to explore the most important issues of our day and doing so at the highest artistic level." --"Oregonian"

"Heart-thumping dread permeates this creepy, stunning book." --"Tucson Citizen"

"Raban is a wonderful and cerebral stylist, a master of arresting syntactical inversions with an incisive view of our contemporary moment." --"Cleveland Plain Dealer"

"Mesmerizing. . . . Sharp and riveting. . . . A masterful job." --"Newsday "

Book Description

A gripping black comedy from the author of the critically acclaimed Waxwings

About this edition

• Publisher: Pantheon
• Publication date: 2007
• ISBN 10: 0375422447
• ISBN 13: 9780375422447
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 272