By The Book

The texts and images are taken almost entirely from [extremely strange] 19th-century manuals, handbooks, textbooks, encyclopedias, and other reference books What emerges from them is a surprisingly coherent set of stories, often very funny, equally often dark Re: her visual-text integration, compare to: Nick Bantock (Griffin & Sabine trilogy, The Forgetting Room), Anne Carson (Antigonick, 2012), Leanne Shapton (Important Artifacts and Personal Property from the Collection of Lenore Doolan and Harold Morris[...], 2009), Reif Larson (The Selected Works of T. S. Spivet, 2009) Re: her literary technique, compare to William Burroughs' cut-ups, or the "literary collage" method of David Shields, or (for comic effect) John Barth's On with the Story Technique also compares to: novels influenced by cyber theory & hypertext (Shelley Jackson, Patchwork Girl, Skin, Melancholy of Anatomy) Will be visually very attractive—collages play on current interest in vintage images & ironic montage Plays well as both literary experiment and quirky visual arts gift book A sequel of sorts to Forms of Devotion An author who can write traditional novels that sell 50,000+ copies—and instead elects to do this. She has a genuine commitment to the experiment.