Vernon God Little: A 21st Century Comedy in the Presence of Death (Man Booker Prize) - Hardcover

Pierre, D. B. C.

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1841954608 ISBN 13: 9781841954608

Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd, 2003

Synopsis

In the small town of Martirio, Texas, fifteen-year-old Vernon Little finds himself in deep trouble after his best friend Jesus kills sixteen of his classmates before committing suicide as he becomes the target of both vengeful townspeople in search of vengeance and justice and the media's thirst for sensation. A first novel. 35,000 first printing.

About this title

Review

If there's any justice, it is only a matter of time before the work of the curiously-named DBC Pierre becomes essential reading for anyone interested in cutting-edge writing today. Vernon God Little is a book that has a totally individual (and very quirky) identity, from a writer with a finger on the pulse of contemporary society (particularly its less comfortable aspects). Pierre is also a satirical writer in the vein of such talents as Terry Southern, and there is a manic quality to his work that makes the experience of reading him both disorienting and exhilarating. As a first novel, this is a remarkable achievement.

Teenager Vernon Gregory Little's life has been changed by the Columbine-style slaughter of a group of students at his high school. Soon his hole-in-the-wall town is blanketed under a media siege, and Vernon finds himself blamed for the killing (rather than the real culprit, a friend of Vernon's). Eulalio Ledesma is his particular nemesis, manipulating things so that Vernon becomes the fulcrum for the bizarre and vengeful impulses of the townspeople of Martirio. After a truly surrealistic set of events, Vernon finds himself heading for a fateful assignation in Mexico with the delectable Taylor Figueros (everyone in the book has names as odd as the author's).

By setting his novel in the barbecue-sauce capital of Central Texas, Pierre ensures that his narrative is going to be some distance from naturalistic writing. And as a scalpel-like satirical incision into the mores of contemporary America, reality TV and media hysteria, Vernon God Little often reads like a fractured modern-day take on such novels as John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces. --Barry Forshaw

Review

"'This is Irish lyricism as you have never heard it before... In this outstanding new play, Mark O'Rowe... confronts us with two fiercely urban, contemporary low-life lads, talking a new dramatic language' Daily Telegraph 'A tragedy played out as scabrous high comedy' Guardian 'Vividly horrible and horribly funny' Evening Standard"

Edition details

• Publisher: Canongate Books Ltd
• Publication date: 2003
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1841954608
• ISBN 13: 9781841954608
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288