The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction is an eclectic and essential guide to the literary world’s greatest cult authors and the facts behind their fiction. Even if you know your Hunter S. Thompson from your Jim Thompson, do you know which cult novel has been implicated in assassinations, which eccentric author enjoyed ice-skating in an armchair, and which writer inspired a Broadway musical and the Velvet Underground? Features include:
• The Authors: Critical coverage of more than 200 cult writers, from Walter Abish to Richard Zimler, with potted biographies, must reads and surprising influences.
• Graphic Novels: The low-down on Alan Moore, Hergé, Neil Gaiman and other legends.
• The Isolation Ward: Seminal books by authors who never became cult figures but wrote one classic work.
• The Cult Collection: A feast of trivia revealing the authors who wrote standing up, the literary heavyweights who wanted to be boxing heavyweights, and the little-known novels of Benito Mussolini and Sarah Bernhardt. |
What The Press Say
An eclectic, essential guide to the world’s greatest cult authors and the facts behind their fiction that no self-respecting student should be without. Looking for critical coverage of your favourite author? Want to know why cult fiction moves people in unexpected ways? This little gem reveals all. - Fresh Direction For anyone with a love of books, this little gem is essential. . .filled with fascinating facts behind the fiction.- Newcastle upon Tyne Sunday The Rough Guide to Cult Fiction. . .is a diamond in the rough, but a true gem all the same. Almost 300 wackily enthusiastic mini-essays introduce mad, bad and dangerous to know writers, from Ballard to Burroughs, Highsmith to Houellebecq, Sartre to Self. . . . The guide deserves a home in record, DVD and games stores. And it ought to be displayed alongside a shelf or two of titles by the authors that it describes. - Boyd Tonkin, The Week in Books, The Independent |