Raymond Chandler meets Kafka in this inventive reimagining of the classic detective novel.
In this tightly plotted yet mind-expanding debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed with only an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people's dreams.
In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin is a humble file clerk working for a huge and imperious detective agency, and all he knows about solving mysteries comes from filing reports for the illustrious investigator Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing, and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren't so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound Manual of Detection.
The Manual of Detection defies comparison; it is a brilliantly conceived, meticulously realised novel that will change what you think about how you think.
Raymond Chandler meets Kafka in this inventive reimagining of the classic detective novel.
In this tightly plotted yet mind-expanding debut novel, an unlikely detective, armed with only an umbrella and a singular handbook, must untangle a string of crimes committed in and through people's dreams.
In an unnamed city always slick with rain, Charles Unwin is a humble file clerk working for a huge and imperious detective agency, and all he knows about solving mysteries comes from filing reports for the illustrious investigator Travis Sivart. When Sivart goes missing, and his supervisor turns up murdered, Unwin is suddenly promoted to detective, a rank for which he lacks both the skills and the stomach. His only guidance comes from his new assistant, who would be perfect if she weren't so sleepy, and from the pithy yet profound Manual of Detection.
The Manual of Detection defies comparison; it is a brilliantly conceived, meticulously realised novel that will change what you think about how you think.
Raymond Chandler meets Murakami in this inventive reimagining of the classic detetctive novel.
Jedediah Berry was raised in the Hudson Valley region of New York State. His short fiction has appeared in numerous journals and anthologies, including Best New American Voices and Best American Fantasy. He lives in Northampton, Massachusetts, where he works as assistant editor of Small Beer Press.
Imaginative, fantastical, sometimes inexplicable, labyrinthine and
ingenious...Great fun and very clever. My comparison? Flann
O'Brien's The Third Policeman - which is about as good as it
gets
*Observer*
A wryly cerebral take on noir fiction...Separated conjoined twin
gangsters, a duplicitous femme fatale and a nightmarish carnival
owner inhabit the nocturnal, rain-soaked city where this clever,
postmodern detective story is set
*Financial Times*
It is an elegant and stunningly imaginative fusion of detective and
speculative fiction
*Guardian*
The plot's bursting with as many twists and surprises as you could
hope for...It steams along the smooth rails of Berry's neatly
constructed sentences, barrelling round each well-cambered turn
with barely a judder
*London Review of Books*
Like Sin City, this is a noir fairytale, with the grey-scale,
drizzly streets and shabby cafes contrasted by fluorescent, primary
colour characters...Berry's work is reminiscent of the coolest
young American novelists - Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, Glen
David Gold - in its sheer delight at how genre writing can be
re-invigorated and re-imagined. The Manual of Detection makes the
weird, fantastical world of the unconsciousness seem comically
logical - like its subject, it is a dream
*Scotland on Sunday*
In an effort to locate a missing detective, an agency clerk investigates that detective's most renowned cases. Is he following the right clues? Is he trusting the right people? His steps through the surreal City, the Agency Archives, and the Travels-No-More Carnival take him ever closer to his destiny. Merging a comedic yet dark fantasy world with the hard-boiled school of detection, this clever debut novel both amuses and confuses. Pete Larkin's (The Last Campaign) carefully fashioned portrayals of the stock characters-worldly Detective Sivert, innocent, clueless clerk Unwin, femme fatale Cleopatra Greenwood, folksy janitor Arthur, elderly Colonel Baker, and evil magician Enoch Hoffman-help the listener keep track of who's who but never what's what! Fans of Jasper Fforde and Dashiell Hammett will appreciate. [Audio clip available through www.highbridgeaudio.com; see Major Audio Releases, LJ 2/1/09.-Ed.]-Juleigh Muirhead Clark, Colonial Williamsburg Fdn. Lib., VA Copyright 2009 Reed Business Information.
Imaginative, fantastical, sometimes inexplicable, labyrinthine and
ingenious...Great fun and very clever. My comparison? Flann
O'Brien's The Third Policeman - which is about as good as it
gets * Observer *
A wryly cerebral take on noir fiction...Separated conjoined twin
gangsters, a duplicitous femme fatale and a nightmarish carnival
owner inhabit the nocturnal, rain-soaked city where this clever,
postmodern detective story is set * Financial Times *
It is an elegant and stunningly imaginative fusion of detective and
speculative fiction * Guardian *
The plot's bursting with as many twists and surprises as you could
hope for...It steams along the smooth rails of Berry's neatly
constructed sentences, barrelling round each well-cambered turn
with barely a judder * London Review of Books *
Like Sin City, this is a noir fairytale, with the grey-scale,
drizzly streets and shabby cafes contrasted by fluorescent, primary
colour characters...Berry's work is reminiscent of the coolest
young American novelists - Michael Chabon, Jonathan Lethem, Glen
David Gold - in its sheer delight at how genre writing can be
re-invigorated and re-imagined. The Manual of Detection
makes the weird, fantastical world of the unconsciousness seem
comically logical - like its subject, it is a dream * Scotland on
Sunday *
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