The Card - Hardcover

Rawle, Graham

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0857891243 ISBN 13: 9780857891242

Publisher: Atlantic Books, 2012

Synopsis

A charming, surreal, visually stunning and utterly unforgettable new novel, in which the design of the pages replicates the way our hero's mind works as he pieces together the mystery at the novel's heart

Since childhood, Riley has been a keen collector of bubble gum cards. Now, 30 years later, the one card missing from his collection is the legendary card 19 from the 1967 Mission Impossible television series, of which only one exists. One day a mysterious grey-haired man drops a playing card in a deserted alley. Riley picks it up. Is it a secret sign? Before long, he is finding all kinds of bubble gum and cigarette cards on the street, each one apparently containing a further hidden clue to a coded message. Will Riley rise to the challenge and discover the secret of the cards? And will he ever find elusive card 19? Exquisitely written, extremely funny, and visually stunning, this is the utterly unforgettable story of a man who views the world—and everything in it—just a little bit differently from everyone else. Each of the 15 cards, created by Graham Rawle, appear in color as they turn up in the story.

About this title

About the Author

Graham Rawle is a writer and collage artist whose visual work incorporates illustration, design, photography, and installation. His acclaimed novel Woman's World is being made into a feature film. He is married to an American and is a frequent visitor to Minneapolis, Minnesota.

From Booklist

In British writer and collage artist Rawle’s latest experimental crime novel, we meet Riley Reynolds. Like Ignatius J. Reilly in A Confederacy of Dunces (1980), Riley believes that the universe (or possibly an operative from MI5) has special plans for him. Riley is working on an autobiographical story about a collectible 1967 Mission: Impossible bubble-gum card. He’s also constructing messages left for him on the random cards he finds on the streets of 1997 London. They reveal that Princess Diana is in grave danger, and it is Riley’s life mission to save her. The cards, designed by Rawle, are reproduced throughout the novel. Rawle also plays with traditional formatting by introducing symbols next to recurring themes and highlighting the alliteration that fills Riley’s always spinning mind. There are moments when Riley seems poignantly aware that this quest is all in his mind. And then there are the moments when he believes that Barry Manilow is his cousin. The many sides of this fiercely creative puzzler somehow come together as something absurdly charming. --Karen Keefe

About this edition

• Publisher: Atlantic Books
• Publication date: 2012
• ISBN 10: 0857891243
• ISBN 13: 9780857891242
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 336