Surveillance: A Novel.

Jonathan Raban.

ISBN 10: 0375422447 / ISBN 13: 9780375422447

Published by Random House: Pantheon Books, New York, NY, 2006

About this Item

First Ed; First Printing indicated. Very Good+ in Near Fine DJ: Book shows indications of light use: moderate spine lean; else minimal wear; two small spots at the lower front panel; binding secure; text clean. DJ shows only the mildest rubbing; price intact. Overall, remains clean, sturdy, and quite presentable. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 258pp. Hardback with DJ. "Surveillance" is a deftly and humanely worked out story of post-millenial Seattle. I found particular pleasure in the fact that it flouts a rule strictly enforced in writing workshops and book groups across the county (not to mention in the minds of people who think that Hollywood actually produces art): "Surveillance" fails to conclusively conclude. I could make an argument that the conclusion is rather too conclusive, but let me simply say that the events of the ending are rather too possible for those of us on the West Coast. They are also are in key with some of the atmospherics along the way, and so document to a degree the worries of the liberal imagination in these times. Until the ending, Surveillance quite skillfully inhabits the world of the "well-made novel", weaving four (and more) stories together gracefully, each of which changes perspective on the topic as whole. Particularly impressive is the portrait of Alida, Lucy Bengstrom's eleven-year old daughter, who is individual enough to stay in the mind, but with nary a speck of preciousness. But it is in the portrait of Lucy that "Surveillance" succeeds the most. "Waxwings" was mostly the story of a professor with an age and opinions close to Raban's, but Lucy is a 50 something single mother whose certainties and confusions ring true. Ultimately, each of the major character is compelling and treated sympathetically. There is dread in "Surveillance" and dis-ease, but the reason for it is deep-seated, suggested rather than discussed.

Seller Inventory # 35160

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Surveillance: A Novel.
• Publisher: Random House: Pantheon Books, New York, NY
• Publication Date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0375422447
• ISBN 13: 9780375422447
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: First Ed; First Printing indicated.
• Dust Jacket Condition: Dust Jacket Included
• Seller catalogs:
  • Fiction

About this title

Synopsis

In the not-too-distant future, national identity cards are mandatory, and America has become obsessed with intelligence-gathering. The government’s scrutiny is omnipresent, civilians freely indulge their curiosity on the Internet, journalists pursue their investigations with relentless determination, and children both snoop on their parents and manipulate new technologies.

In Seattle, the unfulfilled actor Tad Zachary now performs mostly in the Department of Homeland Security’s fictional disaster scenarios, while his friend and neighbor Lucy Bengstrom struggles to support her eleven-year-old daughter, Alida, on a freelance journalist’s meager income–with their landlord providing additional threats. Then Lucy is assigned to write a profile of August Vanags, a retired professor turned best-selling author with his memoir of a childhood ravaged by World War II, but the validity of his account grows questionable, even as Lucy and Alida are charmed by both Vanags and his lonesome wife.

Everyone here is under surveillance or conducting it, and at risk of confusing what might be true for what actually is–a distinction not easily honored in a time of personal stress and widespread panic, when terrorist attack and literary fraud lurk around every corner. With precision and compassion, Jonathan Raban captures not only a peculiar period in our ongoing history but also a rich variety of lives caught up in fault lines that reach throughout society.

About the Author

The author, most recently, of Waxwings and Passage to Juneau, Jonathan Raban was born in En-gland and since 1990 has lived in Seattle. His honors include the National Book Critics Circle Award, the Heinemann Award of the Royal Society of Literature, the PEN/West Creative Nonfiction Award, the Pacific Northwest Bookseller Association’s Award, and the Governor’s Award of the State of Washington.