Overview

'Kings, lords, liars, usherettes, goal-hangers, gun-men and prostitutes. Whether or not these stories bear any relation to life as it is lived in Endland (sic) is not my problem and good riddance to all those who prefer to read about truly good, lucky and nice people - you won't like this crap at all.' A comical and brutal weave of parables gone wrong, Endland holds a broken mirror to England. In its garish but strangely familiar world of empty tower blocks, 24-hour cyber cafes and bomb sites, a motley collection of misfits, wanderers and charmed drunks do their best to survive. Nothing is stable in Endland and what's more, the gods have started drinking at lunchtime, which can only lead to trouble. Conjured in a mix of slang, pub anecdote, folktale and science fiction, Endland is the nightmare unfolding just outside the window - a glitchy parade of aging bikers and ghost children, cut-price assassins and witless wannabe celebs. The world fashioned by Thatcher, Google, NATO, ICANN, Brexit, Big Brother, Bin Laden and Trump needs new narratives to make sense of it. In Endland, with feverish wit and a broken compass, Etchells unpicks the myths and strange realities we're caught up in.

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9781911508700

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Reviews

`Surreal, compulsive... probably the most original and unsettling read you're likely to have this year.' The Big Issue----`The scenery is taken straight from a low-budget Blade Runner... brilliantly welds together archaic language with computer-speak to create a funny, caustic collection.' The Times ---- `Books of 1998 that I have relished - Endland Stories by Tim Etchells (one of those unexpected jiffy bags that insist on being read, at once, and probably out loud).' Iain Sinclair ----`Reads as if written by one of Anthony Burgess's more gifted Clockwork Orange droogs.' The Guardian----`The best yet from the pulpsters!' Jeff Noon----`Though his theme is the state of the nation, Etchells has little time for the new realism of the last few years, placing himself instead in the tradition of Ballard and Moorcock. Hacking up our comforters-TV cartoons, mythologies, children's toys and board games-he deftly strips away the sentimental wadding we use as insulation from reality. A dance through the ruins of modern Britain... Etchells takes a Sadean delight in casual cruelty, creating a flippant and contorted technomedieval world whose gods are named Tesco and Blowjob, the spectre of real lives and real suffering is uncannily present.' Attitude

`Surreal, compulsive... probably the most original and unsettling read you're likely to have this year.' The Big Issue----`The scenery is taken straight from a low-budget Blade Runner... brilliantly welds together archaic language with computer-speak to create a funny, caustic collection.' The Times ---- `It insists on being read, at once, and probably out loud.' Iain Sinclair ----`Reads as if written by one of Anthony Burgess's more gifted Clockwork Orange droogs.' The Guardian----`The best yet from the pulpsters!' Jeff Noon----`Though his theme is the state of the nation, Etchells has little time for the new realism of the last few years, placing himself instead in the tradition of Ballard and Moorcock. Hacking up our comforters-TV cartoons, mythologies, children's toys and board games-he deftly strips away the sentimental wadding we use as insulation from reality. A dance through the ruins of modern Britain... Etchells takes a Sadean delight in casual cruelty, creating a flippant and contorted technomedieval world whose gods are named Tesco and Blowjob, the spectre of real lives and real suffering is uncannily present.' Attitude ---- `Thanatofiction at its best and a debut that leaves the reader wanting more.' Kirkus Reviews

Author Information

Tim Etchells is an artist and writer based in Sheffield and London. His work shifts between performance, visual art, and writing, and is presented in a wide variety of contexts, from museums and galleries to festivals and public sites. Since 1984, he has been the leader of the ground-breaking, world-renowned Sheffield performance group Forced Entertainment, winners of the 2016 International Ibsen Award. His work in visual art has been shown in institutions including Tate Modern, Hayward Gallery, and Witte de With (Rotterdam), whilst his performances - either solo, with Forced Entertainment, or in collaboration with other artists, choreographers, and musicians - have been presented in venues including the Barbican Centre, Centre Pompidou Paris, Volksbuhne Berlin, Tanzquartier Wien (Vienna) and Museum of Contemporary Art Chicago, to name a few. His public site commissions have included projects for Times Square (New York), Derry-Londonderry UK City of Culture 2013 and Glastonbury festival. Etchells has developed a unique voice in writing fiction and is currently Professor of Performance and Writing at Lancaster University.

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