This is a lyrical explosion of a book, a challenge to literature, and particularly to narrative non-fiction, as we know it.
Our books no longer reflect the way we understand our lives, Shields argues. They are not fractured enough, not various and stolen, too hemmed in. We are all of us increasingly hungry for the "real", and have created monuments of commodified irreality in a desperate attempt to find it.
This book is indeed a manifesto in the best sense, a call to action for readers and writers. Shields is demanding reader interaction, greater risk, more serendipity and - as difficult, possibly, to acheive as it is easy to say - more reality in our use of the written word. It's a stirring book full of more questions than answers, and one I'm very excited to have as the topic of a conversation here at the store..
News of Note
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Written by Sandy
Tuesday, 23 June 2009
by Scott Lynch (Bantam Spectra, $7.50)
Locke is an orphan, raised under a hill, made into a thief. This thief is taught the ways of the aristocracy, the ways of priests, the ways of merchants. He is taught to be the ultimate con man, so that he rubs elbows with dukes, dons, and even kings. He and his band, the games, the lessons, the rise, all right here in this original book set in an original world.
Locke is an orphan, raised under a hill, made into a thief. This thief is taught the ways of the aristocracy, the ways of priests, the ways of merchants. He is taught to be the ultimate con man, so that he rubs elbows with dukes, dons, and even kings. He and his band, the games, the lessons, the rise, all right here in this original book set in an original world.