As a writer slash encyclopedist, I'm interested in describing and categorizing both the world (or its end) and the contents of my unconscious, in a manner after Rimbaud, both systematic and deranged.
About me: READING in S.F. AT BOOKS INC. MAY 20 at 7:30
Alistair McCartney was born in Perth, Western Australia, in 1971. His writing has appeared or is forthcoming in Fence, Bloom, James White Review, and other literary journals, as well as in a number of fiction and creative nonfiction anthologies, including Wonderlands: Good Gay Travel Writing, published by the University of Wisconsin Press, and Between Men (Carroll and Graff.) He lives in Los Angeles with his partner Tim Miller and teaches creative writing and literature in the BA Program at Antioch University Los Angeles and Antioch Santa Barbara. His first novel, The End of the World Book (University of Wisconsin Press) is due out in April, 08.
---------------------------------------------------------
The End of the World Book
A Novel
Alistair McCartney
-----------------------------------------------------
This is no ordinary novel. An encyclopedia of memory—from A to Z—The End of the World Book deftly intertwines fiction, memoir, and cultural history, reimagining the story of the world and one man’s life as they both hurtle toward a frightening future. Alistair McCartney’s alphabetical guide to the apocalypse layers images like a prose poem, building from Aristotle to da Vinci, hip-hop to lederhosen, plagues to zippers, while barreling from antiquity to the present.
In this profound book about mortality, McCartney composes an irreverent archive of philosophical obsessions and homoerotic fixations, demonstrating the difficulty of separating what is real from what is imagined.
-------------------------------------------------------
“If I’ve read a more deeply impressive, beautiful, sweeping, mindful, and innovative first novel than Alistair McCartney’s The End of the World Book, I have no memory of it. McCartney is a writer of peerless, brilliant originality and pure, giant talent.”—Dennis Cooper, author of The Sluts and God Jr.
----------------------------------------------------------
“The End of the World Book is in turn informative, playful, erotic, imaginary, witty, perverse, charming, autobiographical, and full of wonders; the letter K, for example, begins with Kafka and ends with Freddie Krueger. If the world is ending soon, I recommend you read it while there’s still time.”—Jim Krusoe, author of Iceland and Blood Lake
-----------------------------------------------------------
“Beguiling, comical, earnest, and wise beyond its author’s years. Crossing sporadic bursts of linear narrative with a detailed taxonomy of altercation, McCartney has engineered a compelling compendium of integrated distractions, somewhat in the manner of Robert Burton’s Anatomy of Melancholy. Read it from A to Z. He knows who you are: you will be quizzed.”—James McCourt, author of Mawrdew Czgowchwz and Queer Street
----------------------------------------------------------
www.hometown.aol.com/meaningme
--Damn, Alistair, don’t you look good enough to eat! -- Needless to say, I look forward to seeing even more of you (yes, please, and thank you). —In the meantime, this is just a short note, from the olde vampyre himself, in thanks for welcoming FAMILY DRAQUAL into your life. --Hugs (if you're confident enough of your manhood, AND/OR if you dare get that close). –Vlad
Oh, me! Oh, my! Please, forgive me for not finding your myspace page earlier, Alistair. When I saw that I was being added by you, I had to do a double take and freaked out for a good 10 minutes because it's actually you! (forgive me, I'm a little bit of a dork sometimes.) ;) Thank you very much for adding me, and I'm quite looking forward to you're book reading here in Chicago; I've already got myself a ticket and have my schedule cleared up for it! :) I hope you are doing well, enjoying the wonderous beginning of fall, and I cannot wait until you and Tim are here in Illinois! :D Have a wonderful week!
alistair - thanks for the very nice note - and yes, morrisey, what can be said? he can even make a miserable, hand-ringing, self-pitying experience kind of fun and exciting...don't you just love him? cheers, tom
alistair - thanks so much for adding me - 'the end of the world book' was a revelation - and very touching to me on a personal level - thanks for the great work. cheers, tom
It was really an hornor to chat with you at the awards! Unfortunately my boss cleaned off her desk before we left for Cali (for BEA) so she doesnt' have the magazine but we both agree that it was People.
Hello Alistair! Just getting my orientation for new friends and wanted to say thanks. I look forward to finding out more about you and your work. Click here to check out Orientation, my new novel about reincarnation and love and what happens when a gay man and a lesbian find themselves mysteriously attracted to one another. Click here to watch the haunting trailer for Orientation. Or visit me at www. rickrreed. com
I'm doing great guns at the moment Alistair, thanks for asking. I'm off to Bangkok in about a week and a helf time, i'm looking forward to it very much as a friend is shouting me an eye lift! Just what this tired ol face needs. I've also been helping some artist friends of mine to open a new club called ZOO. It's very strange doing shows again but i got back on me bike very easilly and a lot of the old crowd has been coming out to see me which I find amazing thinking I was the only one left! I'll look into Amazon when i get back from Bangers as i'm saving every penny i get from massaging (doin fine by the way), Take care my friend and say hi to Tim for me, Stryker xxx
Hey Alistair, Congratulations on a great presentation vid. Very cool, great sound the right amount of suspense, very tense as it should be! Good luck with it all my friend, how are you and Tim going? well i hope, keep up the good work! I this book available in Australia yet? love your way Stryker xxx
Hi Alistair, We're already thinking about our next visit too. It was great to see you both. Enjoy Eudora: I haven't read her in years. For some reason, I've been on a Melville kick since our return and I can't get him out of my head. I hope your summer is great. xo
"Unconventional is a wonderful story full of heart, humor, and what it means to truly be successful. An A+ novel for the keeper shelf. " - Gemma Halliday, award-winning author
wonderful to finally meet you yesterday. I'm enjoying your book as we speak (although I should probably be working on my backlog instead...oh well). Hope to see you again soon. xx. Greg
something told me you would get a kick out of adam ant. i love the new romantic period ... they have yet to make a good movie on it. hopefully i will some day!
*
The Empress (III) is a Major Arcana Tarot card.
The Empress is mother, a creator and nurturer. In many decks she can be shown as pregnant. She can represent the creation of life, of romance, of art or business.