{"product_id":"at-the-end-of-the-world-a-fractal-meta-loco-narrative-in-eb-major-paperback","title":"At the End of the World: A Fractal Meta-Loco Narrative in Eb Major - Paperback","description":"\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eTed Cleary\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eAt the End of the World: \u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"This is intensely good writing, overflowing with raw artistry.\" - James Howard Kunstler \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"If Hieronymus Bosch came back to write a novella, it might look like this.\" - \u003ci\u003eThe Phoenix\u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Hats off - this is fine stuff - just right for our apocalyptic age. I was reminded of early Pynchon in a very good way - it's terrific. All the characters are strong. And such economical writing with constant dashes of rhetorical brilliance. It's never overwritten -- a difficult balance to maintain, impossible for most writers.\" -- Eumaeus Jones, Ph.D. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eA psychedelic and picaresque romp through philosophy, jazz, and a plausible end-of-the-world scenario, this tight novella spins interwoven story-lines, draws you down corkscrewing rabbit holes, lifts you back to open air -- and finally catapults you (along with \"Dean the saxophone player\") into realms strange and alluring. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn a flamboyant yet succinct style recalling the crisp turns of T.C. Boyle, supercharged with a whiff of Vonnegut, and a distant cousin to the crisply exact comic articulation of Flann O'Brien ( - merely comparisons for reader orientation, not claims of literary peerage - ) the reader is in for a high octane and entertaining trip. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eGreatly compressed, it packs the punch of an entire novel into the M-80 cylinder of a short novella. For readers lacking time (and that is all of us), this quick in-and-out literary head-trip may be just the thing. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eExcerpt: \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrother Mark, standing on the parapet, saw the masses surge up the hill and smash themselves like the sea against the foot of the cliffs. In them he saw, across over a thousand years, the Vikings sacking the rocky outposts of Ireland, greasy and stinking, gorged on meat and the plunder of Irish hamlets. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eIn their ships huddled captive girls in thrall for the long northern haul across kraken-swirled waters to womanless Iceland.\u003cbr\u003eAmid terrible shouts, the warriors leapt into the surf and swarmed up the stony outcroppings to the monasteries. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe monks were hard men but poor warriors; half-mad from the rain and half-blind from copying in the dim light of candles, they were no match for the Norsemen. They perceived the intruders to be a riot of evil set loose in the world to be tamed by prayer or perhaps appeased by offerings of boiled fish and chives. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe Vikings swatted away their frugal bowls and split the godly men from skull to pelvis with their battle axes. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eBrother Mark watched as the marauders scaled the monastery walls, broke through the gates, and infiltrated the cloister. Nothing had changed in over a thousand years: it was still the same uneven match between good and evil. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eThe earth had circled the sun for a human eternity, describing its orbit through the ebony void; empires had risen and fallen; forty generations had been begotten and forgotten, and here was Brother Mark on the spume-soaked skellig, hearing the awful din of voices and clashing metal, the tramping of boots and promise of mayhem. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"\u003c\/i\u003eGet a load of Scarface here.\"\u003cbr\u003eA fifteen-year-old whippet stood in front of Brother Mark, leering, tossing a crowbar from hand to hand. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e------ Also see \"Look Inside\" feature for the opening pages. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eContains bonus story, \"Drew's War: A Vietnam Tale.\" (\"Like \u003ci\u003eApocalypse Now \u003c\/i\u003eon nitrous oxide and psilosybin.\" -- \u003ci\u003eGreen Room, \u003c\/i\u003e Surf Zine) \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003ePraise for Ted Cleary's novella, \u003ci\u003eSong of the Cicada (\"Flushing Araby\"): \u003c\/i\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"The prose has a wildness and lushness reminiscent of the Joyce of\u003ci\u003e Ulysses, \u003c\/i\u003e or maybe Flann O'Brien or Rushdie ... Phantasmagoric.\" -- Matthew Wikander, Distinguished Prof. Emeritus of English, Univ. of Toledo \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\"Marvelous. A gem on every page. The Kama Sutra sequence is a gasping fictional moment.\" -- Michael Seidel, Prof. Emeritus of English, Columbia University; author of \u003ci\u003eJames Joyce: A Short Introduction.\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 140\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.33 x 8.5 x 5.5 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e August 24, 2023\u003c\/div\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e","brand":"Books by splitShops","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51780512874784,"sku":"9798218255060","price":13.48,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0974\/9764\/5344\/files\/fb356d0b91bfd43920927c70232fd2f1.webp?v=1780530015","url":"https:\/\/ebocreations.com\/products\/at-the-end-of-the-world-a-fractal-meta-loco-narrative-in-eb-major-paperback","provider":"The E-Book Oasis LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}