The Electric Michelangelo - Softcover

Hall, Sarah

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0571315615 ISBN 13: 9780571315611

Publisher: Faber & Faber, 2016

Synopsis

On the windswept front of Morecambe Bay, Cy Parks spends his childhood years first in a guest house for consumptives run by his mother and then as apprentice to alcoholic tattoo-artist Eliot Riley. Thirsty for new experiences, he departs for America and finds himself in the riotous world of the Coney Island boardwalk, where he sets up his own business as 'The Electric Michelangelo'. In this carnival environment of roller-coasters and freak-shows, Cy becomes enamoured with Grace, a mysterious immigrant and circus performer who commissions him to cover her entire body in tattooed eyes.

Hugely atmospheric, exotic and familiar, The Electric Michelangelo is a love story and an exquisitely rendered portrait of seaside resorts on opposite sides of the Atlantic by one of the most uniquely talented novelists of her generation.

About this title

About the Author

Sarah Hall was born in Cumbria in 1974. She is the prize-winning author of five novels - Haweswater, The Electric Michelangelo, The Carhullan Army and How to Paint a Dead Man and The Wolf Border - as well as The Beautiful Indifference, a collection of short stories. The first story in the collection, 'Butchers Perfume', was shortlisted for the BBC National Short Story Award, a prize she won in 2013 with 'Mrs Fox'.

Review

“Confirms her status as one of the most significant and exciting of our younger novelists.” (The Guardian)

“The torrential Lawrentian flow of her prose offers many heady pleasures.” (London Times)

“Her gorgeously embellished prose compels the narrative, along with the beguiling vignettes she conjures up . . . the effect is intoxicating.” (Financial Times)

‘Sarah Hall’s second novel, is richly descriptive, an evocative exploration of misfits and exiles searching for a home.’ (The Lady)

‘Twisted and tantalising, this is beatifully written and a worthy successor.’ (Ham and High)

‘The writing is so polished that it is hard to believe the author is only 30.’ (Sunday Telegraph)

‘Wildly imagined and richly written. Prose as highly-coloured as Hall’s has to be savoured’ (Independent)

“A vivid depiction of changing seaside culture.... A smart study of a subtle but desreputable art.” (The Independent)

‘The Electric Michelangelo is a work of unusual imaginative power and range.’ (The Guardian)

‘Hall’s sensuous and brilliant imagery does not disappoint.’ (INK Magazine)

‘Sarah Hall’s second book reads with all the colour, guts and flair of the 19th century tale - spinner.’ (The List)

‘Hall conveys an arresting, colourful and complex world.... Even the most miniscule of nuances fanatically thought through and delivered.” (Jack Magazine)

‘The Electric Michelangelo is a pleasure to read.’ (Zembla)

‘A dazzlingly atmospheric and imaginative read.’ (Eve)

“Picaresque in its sweep and lovely in its lush description.... Hall’s writing is pure joy.” (Publishers Weekly)

About this edition

• Publisher: Faber & Faber
• Publication date: 2016
• ISBN 10: 0571315615
• ISBN 13: 9780571315611
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 352