Price: $20.95
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Revolution
rocks and rolls. An ex-tv star seizes power and tries to turn daily life into
an endless film. Temporary People is a political fable of the first order. Set
on the island of Bamerita, a country whose, "history is like the rim of
a wheel made to turn round and round, our political cycles nothing if not redundant," Gillis
third novel, following Walter Falls and The Weight of Nothing,
Temporary People
explores the human condition in all its most vulnerable exposures. A brilliant
send up of modern life turned inside out by the inescapable powers of history
and fate, filled with pathos and humor, Gillis deftly explores the complexities
of survival and choice in a world perpetually on the verge of going mad. Sharp
and satirical, a breathtakingly paced romp, the end will leave you drop-jawed
and wanting more. Temporary People is a book for the ages and once again Gillis
delivers.
"Minimalist-cum-fabulist Steven Gillis synthesizes nearly every Twentieth Century
calamity from World War II to the Balkans to Desert Storm into this fable of
the oppressed country Bamerita, which drifts about the seas unhinged from any
continent. His idealistic and erudite hero finds his peaceful revolution thwarted
and contemplates the holes in Gandhi s many aphorisms while his people are mutilated
in grand spectacle on film. Temporary People is a vicious and compelling storyboard
for our time."
—Jeff Parker, author of Ovenman
"As thoroughly dark and thoroughly humane as Vonnegut's apocalyptic novels like
Cat's Cradle and Galapagos, Temporary People is a suspenseful tale about history,
hope, oppression, and modes of resistance. Gillis's world is richly imagined,
his voice is clear, and his plot is intricate, as is his moral. In fact, this
novel seems much more interested in probing and dramatizing the deep philosophical
paradoxes of revolutionary thought than in providing any pat answer. Here's a
fable for our time, and for just about any other time you can imagine."
—Chris Bachelder, author of U.S.!
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Steven Gillis is the author
of the novels Walter Falls and The Weight of
Nothing, and the story collection Giraffes.
A member of the Ann Arbor Book Festival Board of Directors,
and a finalist for the 2007 Ann Arbor News Citizen of the
Year, Steve teaches writing at Eastern Michigan University,
is the founder of 826 Michigan and the co-founder of Dzanc
Books in partnership with Dan Wickett. Steve lives in Ann
Arbor with his wife Mary, and children Anna and Zach. All
proceeds from Steve's writing goes to Dzanc. |
