War of the Encyclopaedists
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- £3.99
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- £3.99
Publisher Description
War of the Encyclopaedists is Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite's dazzling literary debut.
On a summer night in an arty enclave of Seattle, friends Mickey Montauk and Halifax Corderoy throw one last blowout party before their lives part ways. They had planned to move together to Boston, but global events have intervened: Montauk has just learnt that his National Guard unit will deploy to Baghdad at the end of the summer. And Corderoy is faced with a moral dilemma: his girlfriend Mani has just been evicted and he must decide whether or not to abandon her when she needs him most. The year that follows will transform them all.
'This book has sweep and heart and humour. It captures coming of age during foreign wars and domestic malaise, and it does so with electrifying insight' Mary Karr, author of The Liars' Club
'As bizarre, hilarious and devastating as the past decade . . . Simultaneously a coming-of-age story, a war story, and a story of the disaffected millennial generation for whom the war hardly happened at all' Phil Klay, author of Redeployment
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Robinson and Kovite's debut novel is an uneven bromance set in 2004; Bush has just secured his second term in office, and the Iraq war is in full swing. Seattle hipsters and best friends Halifax Corderoy and Mickey Monterey are both accepted to graduate programs in Boston, but Monterey's plans are interrupted when he is called up for military training before being shipped off to Iraq. The duo stay in touch via their Wikipedia page, "The Encyclopaedists," about an ironic art collective they organized to highlight the absurdity of modern art. The pair's love interests, Mani, an artist, and Tricia, a student, read as two-dimensional characters. The four come across as too naive; their clich d conversations about art and literary theory make the reader feel trapped in an earnest but dull graduate school class. When the action shifts to Baghdad, questions turn from Foucault to the plight of Iraqis, especially the translators who worked for the Americans, making the latter part of the novel a gripping, thoughtful read. Despite the slow start, Robinson's and Kovite's novel is ultimately moving and memorable.