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OverviewFull Product DetailsAuthor: Eugen Egner , Mike MitchellPublisher: Dedalus Ltd Imprint: Dedalus Ltd ISBN: 9781903517024ISBN 10: 1903517028 Pages: 182 Publication Date: 20 November 2001 Audience: General/trade , General Format: Paperback Publisher's Status: Out of Print Availability: Out of stock Table of ContentsReviewsA Candide-like protagonist stuck in time, at the age of 17, who attracts the attentions of ineffably sinister primate researchers -that's the thin premise stretched to unwieldy length in this amiable yet labored futurist comic fantasy by a well-known German graphic artist and playwright. Whimsy accumulates exponentially as young Reuben Hecht disappoints parental hopes for his artistic success (as a state-sponsored official illustrator ), becomes a freelance roadie for the popular singing group Flesh-eating Fetish Bitches, and journeys to a remote colony where artificial humans are being created in an alarmingly unconventional manner. Some amusing in-jokes (including a throwaway reference to a Gustav Meyrink impersonator ), but the story sputters out eventually. Vonnegut in his heyday did it better. (Kirkus Reviews) The reader is usually best advised to fight shy of publishers' puffs for their authors, but the description of this novel as Kafka rewritten by Monty Python is (for once) right on the nail. This surreal, bizarre odyssey is alternately disturbing and hilarious, with Egner's highly individual voice always surprising, always sardonic. Reuben Hecht has not found much fun in the 17 years of his life. Repeatedly beaten with a wooden spoon by his mother, he is forced to complete his illustrations for the Holy German Paintbrush Distance Learning Academy. His father is no help: he spends his time in bed attempting to hatch out a dwarf. Reuben's life changes when he attends a concert by the rock group The Flesh-eating Fetish Bitches, and, believing in any case that his parents are dead, he decides to leave home. His strange odyssey begins in earnest when the proprietor of a travelling freak show dispatches him (with the mysterious Edwina, who has the ability to switch age at will) to the enigmatic Colony to bring back the androids developed from UHT milk that are produced there. Bizarre enough for you? Having invoked Python and Kafka, Egner's publishers might also have mentioned Adams and Pratchett; lovers of those authors will feel very much at home here. Is this science fiction? Fantasy? Comic literary writing? All academic questions - readers in search of something highly unusual need look no further. (Kirkus UK) Author InformationEugen Egner (born 1951) has found fame in Germany as both a writer and a graphic artist, especially for his cartoons and illustrations. He has written short radio plays plus short stories and novels including: Cosmic Flip, From the Diary of an Alcoholic, When Father Christmas was Mother Christmas, The Diaries of WA Mozart and The Artificial Man. His style of writing has been described as anarchic fantasy. Tab Content 6Author Website:Countries AvailableAll regions |