Tag - Necropolis

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My Top 5 Transgressive Novels
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My Visit to Recoleta Cemetery
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My Top 5 Most Disturbing Books
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Chinese Internet Censorship
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Banks, Politics and The World Cup
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New Curtains and Blinds
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Book Marketing
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Necropolis Launch
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Necropolis Countdown
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Satire in Literature

My Top 5 Transgressive Novels

Definition: Transgressive literature is a genre that focuses on characters who feel confined by the norms and expectations of society and who break free of those confines in unusual and/or illicit ways.

Here are my Top 5 Transgressive Novels:

Fight Club

FightClub

Chuck Palahniuk’s seminal work is about a nameless narrator, who starts a fight club with a charismatic anarchist by the name of Tyler Durden. Their fight club concept becomes very popular and spreads across the nation.

My Review: The protagonist, who remains nameless, is an insomniac leading a bland corporate existence, investigating accidents for a car company, whose only concern is profit.  Unable to find meaning in a faceless consumerist society, he instead seeks solace in… (More)

 

American Psycho

American PsychoAmerican Psycho is a satire of the yuppies culture of the 1980s that caused outrage when it was published due to its explicit violent and sexual content. It went on to become a cult classic.

My Review: American Psycho is a highly controversial novel that brought its young author Bret Easton Ellis instant fame.  The book is written from the perspective of a young Wall Street financier, Patrick Bateman… (More)

 

Junky

Junky

Junky is a sardonic, dark and humorous semi-autobiographical account of William S. Burroughs’s years spent using heroin. Its protagonist Bill Lee struggles to escape a cycle of drug dependency whilst trying to find meaning in his life.

My Review: Set in 1950s America and Mexico, Junky is a confessional novella about drug addiction. Its protagonist Bill Lee chronicles his drug-centred existence, which entails searching for his daily fix, scoring, and intravenous drug consumption …(More)

 

Post Office

Post Office

Post Office is a darkly humorous, semi-autobiographical work about Charles Bukowski’s years spent working for the United States Postal Service. It describes the banality, dehumanisation and hardship of unskilled drudgery.

My Review: Henry Chinaski is a heavy drinking, womanising, race track frequenting low-life, who works at the post office.  The story follows his menial existence of twelve-hour night shifts, sorting post, delivering mail, observing his fellow colleagues and facing countless disciplinary measures… (More)

 

Necropolis

Necropolis

Necropolis is a satirical black comedy about a sociopath called Dyson, who works for the burial and cemeteries department in his local council. Okay, so I might have left myself open to accusations of hubris in including my own book alongside these four iconic texts…

Review: ‘The book is full of razor-sharp satire. No politically correct madness escapes unscathed, and no sacred cow remains un-butchered and served up in freezer packs.’ (More)

 

My Visit to Recoleta Cemetery

I have always been fascinated by cemeteries.  Not only have I visited countless burial grounds, but the protagonist in my second novel, the satirical black comedy Necropolis, works for the burials and cemeteries department in his local council.  Necropolis features a number of fictional cemeteries.

During my trip to Argentina earlier this month I had the opportunity to visit the world famous Recoleta cemetery in Buenos Aires.

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Recoleta is filled with a dizzying array of monuments, mausoleums, statues, columns, tombstones and obelisks.  On entering the burial ground visitors are greeted by the sight of this towering arch (see below), commemorating General Alvear, hero of the Argentine War of Independence.

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Iconic former First Lady of Argentina, Eva Peron, is buried five metres underground in her family crypt at Recoleta.  This is her plaque:

Eva Peron

Unlike the sombre and dark traditional family crypts/mausoleums I have seen in the UK, Recoleta’s are often inviting, glass fronted structures brimming with flowers (see below).  A flight of stairs leads down to the death chamber below.

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Having shooed one of Recoleta’s numerous feline inhabitants away with my foot, I took this picture (see below).  Note the palm tree and the pining angels clasping onto the mausoleum on the left.

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Below is a picture of your esteemed author posing outside a family crypt, adorned with angels in a variety of poses.

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Below is an austere, angel-free mausoleum that particularly appealed to me.  I wonder if my monthly Co-operative Funeralcare plan will cover me for one of these in marble or black granite.

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Another interesting burial receptacle. 

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Señor Donovan seemed very confident in which direction he was heading (see below).

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Recoleta abounds with monuments commemorating the Generals from Argentina’s proud military past – a proud military past I was not even aware of. I made the decision it was probably advisable as an Englishman not to question the authenticity of this claim whilst in the cemetery.

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Recolata is a truly remarkable and unique cemetery that I would highly recommend to anyone visiting Buenos Aires.  Below is an aerial shot of Recoleta, which shows the sheer scale of the facility and the diverse nature of its monuments and numerous burial receptacles.

Aerial View

 

 

Necropolis

My Top 5 Most Disturbing Books

This week’s post is dedicated to the top five most disturbing books I have ever read.

 

 5 – Lolita

Lolita

Nabokov’s ornate masterpiece is about a man’s (Humbert Humbert) infatuation with a twelve-year-old girl. Lolita was regarded as so scandalous that it was rejected by a number of major publishers before its publication in 1955. If you don’t find the subject matter of Lolita disturbing, it would probably be advisable to keep it to yourself.

My Review: The protagonist, Humbert Humbert, is an intellectual with an all-consuming craving for young girls, or nymphets as he refers to them.  After his wife leaves him for … (More)

 

4 – Less Than Zero

Less Than Zero

Less Than Zero is about a privileged group of L.A. youngsters, who appear on the surface to have an idealistic life, but in reality live unrewarding and superficial existences. Though less violent and graphic than the author’s seminal work, American Psycho, Less Than Zero’s unrelenting bleakness is deeply disturbing, at least in this reader’s opinion.

My Review: Set in nineteen-eighties Los Angeles, the story follows eighteen-year-old Clay, returned home for Christmas from college in New Hampshire. Clay immediately falls back into the L.A. social scene, … (More)

 

3 – Haunted

Haunted

Haunted is a series of short stories, in which the author succeeds in not only amusing, horrifying and disgusting his readers, but also skilfully exploring a variety of themes. One of the short stories ‘Guts’, a tale of violent accidents involving masturbation, is so harrowing that during a 2003 reading by the author, it was reported that over thirty-five people fainted.

My Review: Haunted is about a group of writers, who have been assembled by the conniving Mr Whittier to attend a writers group. The location of the retreat is in an isolated theatre with no access to the outside … (More)

 

2 – American Psycho 

American Psycho

American Psycho is a satire of the yuppies culture of the 1980s. The book caused outrage when it was published due to its explicit violent and sexual content, as well as its perceived misogynistic elements. American Psycho went on to become a cult classic and one of the most influential books of the nineties.

My Review: American Psycho is a highly controversial novel that brought its young author Bret Easton Ellis instant fame. The book is written from the perspective of a young Wall Street financier, Patrick Bateman … (More)

 

 1 – The Killer Inside Me 

The Killer Inside Me

The Killer Inside Me is a thought provoking, suspenseful and unrelentingly bleak first person narrative about a psychopath, in which the author, Jim Thompson, succeeds in engrossing and disturbing the reader through the use of suspense, and realistic, simple prose. It is without doubt the most disturbing work of fiction I have read to date.

My Review: Twenty-nine-year-old Lou Ford is a Deputy Sheriff from the West Texas town of Central City. Lou, who is in a long-term relationship with childhood sweetheart Amy Stanton, … (More)

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Chinese Internet Censorship

Since starting this WordPress.com blog in early 2012, I have welcomed visitors from a multitude of countries, including Azerbaijan, Botswana, Mauritius and Guernsey (Yes Guernsey is a country according to WordPress). I am still waiting for the first intrepid Beninese and Togolese explorers to discover my blog, and to date there have been no visits from North Korea – perhaps not surprising considering the Internet is merely a rumour for much of the country’s population.

There has yet to be a single visitor from the People’s Republic of China (Population: 1.366 billion, 19% of World’s population). This probably has something to do with the fact that WordPress.com is usually blocked in China. Other popular websites that are blocked in China include Twitter, Facebook, Xhamster (pornography website), and even The New York Times. The ban now also extends to beards, at least on public transport in Xinjiang, in the restless far west of the country.

China

Yesterday I spent some time perusing the Chinese Amazon website. I found a number of controversial books there, including Palahniuk’s anarchist work, Fight Club, and Bret Easton Ellis’s ultra-violent American Psycho. Chinese residents planning to buy a copy of the Dalai Lama’s autobiography will be left disappointed, as will any Chinese Brad Pitt fans hoping to get the DVD of Seven Years In Tibet.

I even found my humorous tale of the unexpected, Charles Middleworth. There was no sign of my latest book, the satirical, black comedy, Necropolis. Perhaps I would be flattering myself if I were to think Necropolis has raised the ire of the Chinese censors, but at any rate any hopes I harboured of Necropolis becoming a 21st Century Little Red Book have had to be put on hold for now.

 Censored

Last night lying in bed, unable to get to sleep, I took to thinking about what English language search terms I might think twice about entering into a search engine, if I was a Chinese resident. I came up with these:

#OrganHarvesting #FreeTibet #UighurDissident #FalunGong

 #FoodScandal #DalaiLama #XinjiangRiots #BearBile

Were you to search for these terms in China, you might well be looking over your shoulder whilst travelling clean-shaven on a public bus, or munching on an expired Big Mac at McDonalds.

 

 

 

Banks, Politics and The World Cup

Tuesday Morning 11:50am – I am walking to the bank. There is a newspaper discarded on a bench at the bus stop. I pick it up. The queue at the bank stretches nearly to the door. I take the opportunity to peruse the paper. It appears that half of Europe is in the midst of political change. The Greeks are refusing to accept austerity measures. Marine Le Pen’s far-right National Front scored its first victory in European Parliament elections in France. And over here the rise of UKIP, could be the final nail in the coffin for the Liberal Democrats, if this paper is to be believed. A scruffily dressed woman with a wheel trolley standing behind me, points at the article I am reading and says, ‘Innit it sad so many idiots voting for that UKIP.’

‘Quite,’ reply I.

‘Is that all you got to say, you can do better than that.’

Looking up at her I remark, ‘Are you aware that you are wearing a beige jumper with floral motif tracksuit bottoms?’

She looks down at her ensemble and then up at me. She says, ‘Err yes, I put them on didn’t I.’

‘Oh, you do know, okay.’

Pint

After leaving the bank I stop off at a pub, where I continue reading the newspaper whilst sipping on a pint of Fosters. At the other end of my table two men are partaking in a jovial conversation. A man with a Scottish accent, who from the look of his bulbous nose and thread veined cheeks, drinks full time.  The other, a gentleman in an expensive looking linen summer suit, who sounds like he is from West Africa.

Soon after they engage me in conversation. The newspaper is laid out on the table in front of me, and the Scottish man and the other, who transpires to be a Nigerian, make comments about its various articles. It is a sort of impromptu ‘Question Time’ (broadcast on the BBC). The Nigerian, name unknown, has a quick wit, which I appreciate. On turning to the political article from earlier, he complains about the ‘ineptitude’ of British politicians compared to his home country of Nigeria. I tell him, ‘I’ve got two words for you, Boko – Haram’.

On turning to the finance pages it becomes apparent that he is something of a minerals expert, as he offers some fairly detailed analysis about the state of the Australian bauxite industry and Congolese coltan mines. The Scottish man finishes his drink and bids us farewell.

Super Eagles

Next up is the sports section. Inevitably the conversation turns to the forthcoming World Cup. In a very sincere voice he tells me that he believes that the Super Eagles (Nigeria) will win the tournament. I laugh out loud and then exclaim, ‘Absolute nonsense, Nigeria won’t even get out of their group. Bosnia and Herzegovina will go through in second place behind Argentina.’

‘How can you know these things,’ responds the man in a menacing tone, encroaching into my personal space as he does so.

I reply, ‘I just do.’

He proceeds to preach to me about the qualities of the Super Eagles, in a very loud and aggressive manner, using hand gestures liberally, pacing up and down as he does so. His comments include, ‘You cannot understand these things.’ And ‘We have Mikel, Moses and Emenike.’ And ‘God is with the Super Eagles.’

Then, quite unexpectedly, he pulls up the trouser legs of his white suit to reveal green Super Eagle socks.  This is concerning.

A barman walks over. He tells us a customer has complained, and we have to leave, which seems unreasonable, as I haven’t uttered so much as a word in quite sometime. I down my pint. Outside in the fresh air the man is instantly calm again. We go our separate ways.

Necropolis

New Curtains and Blinds

Tuesday Morning – The new curtains and blinds finally arrive. It seems an eternity ago that I ordered them, probably because it was. An hour or so later curtains and blinds have been erected downstairs. They look great, well worth the wait.

The fitter is putting the finishing touches to the Roman Blind when I walk into the upstairs room that serves as my study. I like it. He explains that it is the legal requirement that the string pulley system be at least 150cm from the ground. This is to prevent youngsters becoming entangled and potentially strangled by the string. He demonstrates the height with a measuring tape, then hands me a form to sign. The form states something to the effect that the fitting is in keeping with European standards for blind and shutter safety regulation EN13120:2009+A1:2014.

I shake my head glumly and say, ‘Perhaps I should have told you this earlier. My doctor has exempted me from all EN13120:2009 blind and shutter regulations.’

   ‘You have a what?’ replies the man in a surprised tone.

    ‘An exemption. You see a pulley system with fittings in excess of 120cm in height poses a potential threat to my wellbeing. I’m an asphyxiation fetishist you see.’

   ‘Excuse me.’

   ‘An asphyxiation fetishist.’

   ‘What’re those?’

Roman Blind

   ‘Asphyxiation fetishists, or gaspers as they are commonly referred to in the trade, are people who get sexual gratification from the intentional restriction of oxygen to the brain.’ My gaze never leaves his face as I say this, and there is not even the faintest flicker of a smile.

   ‘No, I err don’t know anything about that’, replies the courteous, professional, if rather timorous man.

   I stride up to the blind and wrap the string around my neck. Now I’m smiling.

   ‘Don’t do that,’ he replies holding his arms out.

   ‘I’ll have to phone the shop,’ he says. ‘Do you have a doctor’s certificate? The shop might need a copy for their files.’

   ‘Don’t worry I’ll sign it, but be warned, if it results in misadventure this will be landing on your doorstep.’

Having signed the form I hand it back to him, thinking that perhaps I should tell him that I’m joking, as I’m feeling increasingly embarrassed. However it is evidently far, far too late for that. After refusing the offer of a cup of tea he completed the erection of the blind in the final room in less than half the time it took him to do any of the others. Then he was packing up his tools at a frenetic pace and heading out the door. I was surprised that he never questioned my preposterous and irrational lie. After all would a lower pulley system really prevent a gasper’s activities, and at any rate wouldn’t they consider ordering curtains instead. I put it down to the fact that when we are in a state of shock we often don’t think rationally, and simply go into panic mode.

The curtains and blinds look fantastic.

Necropolis

Book Marketing

It has now been just over a week since I released my satirical black comedy, Necropolis.  This week’s blog post is about some of my book marketing efforts so far. Hopefully fellow authors might find some of this information useful.

Necropolis

 

Reviews

In my opinion it is imperative to start approaching reviewers before the release of your book.  A few days before the official launch day Necropolis was reviewed on:

Crime Fiction Lover – (Britain’s biggest Crime Fiction website) awarded Necropolis 5 Stars.

The following is a quote I particularly liked from their review:

‘The book is full of razor-sharp satire. No politically correct madness escapes unscathed, and no sacred cow remains un-butchered and served up in freezer packs.’

Amazon5 copy

A number of authors suggest that approaching Amazon Top 500 Customer Reviewers can be a beneficial strategy.  You can recognise Amazon’s top reviewers on Amazon, as they have written in a blue font next to their names things like; HALL OF FAME and TOP 10 REVIEWER. 

To receive a review from one of Amazon’s top reviewers gives added validity to your book/product, provided they like it of course, otherwise the opposite holds true.  I would not recommend trying to contact any until your book/product goes Live on Amazon.  This is a video link to assist you in finding them.  Click here to find out how to do this.

From my experience only a very few have contact details, desire to be contacted and/or fall within a given target market, but if your book manages to entice one of these respected reviewers it is well worth the effort. There will be a couple of Amazon Top 500 Customer Reviewers of Necropolis on Amazon.co.uk in the near future.

It goes without saying that more reviews do not equal more sales, only visibility can achieve that, but reviews are critical in persuading customers to purchase once they are on your page.

 

 Bloggers

Blog tours are a marketing strategy used by many authors to gain exposure when they launch a new book. Personally I never planned anything that formal. However, a number of kind bloggers have offered to interview me, provide a guest author profile and/or review my book. This offers a great opportunity for exposure, and in the case of interviews, allows readers to find out more about you as a person.  Readers like this, so I am told.  Here are some blogs/websites I have appeared on so far:

Fiction Favorites – Yesterday American author and prolific Haiku creator, John Howell, kindly interviewed me for his popular blog.

Bookingly Yours – My guest author profile.

Chunk Books – Author, Hollywood Actor and former skateboarder Eric Barry interviewed me for his new blog, dedicated to readers and authors of the Transgressive genre.

More to follow soon.

 

goodreads

I had a pre launch giveaway on the popular reader site, as I did for my first book, Charles Middleworth. I offered 3 signed copies of Necropolis. 1,260 people entered, and nearly 500 added Necropolis to their to-read list. Goodreads giveaways provide a unique  opportunity for your book to be seen by some of goodreads’ 20 million users.

The potential downside is:

  • There is a risk winners will fall outside your target audience.  If an avid fan of Christian Fiction, positive thinking books and/or books featuring cute kittens/puppies wins a copy of my satirical black comedy, Necropolis, they will probably not like it, and this will no doubt be reflected in their review – but that is the risk you take.

 

LibraryThing

For those that are unfamiliar with LibraryThing, it is the competitor to goodreads, with a purported 1.65m users. The LibraryThing Members Giveaway feature provides the opportunity to give away your book. In contrast to goodreads one can offer an ebook as opposed to a hardcopy. The advantage of this is that it will not incur any cost for the author.  I held an ebook giveaway for Necropolis.

If you are not familiar with the site, be warned, it is easier to find your way through a maze than to navigate through LibraryThing.  A lot of work needs to be done to make the site more user friendly, if it is ever to truly compete with goodreads.

There are now 5 Star reviews of Necropolis on Amazon.co.uk, Amazon.com and goodreads.

 

Necropolis

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed.  He is also a sociopath.  Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit.  But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste.  A barbed joy’

Amazon.co.uk – Paperback & Kindle: £2.22

Amazon.com  Paperback & Kindle: $3.73

Thank you to all those who have purchased a copy and/or assisted me in spreading the word about Necropolis.

Next week I will be blogging about marketing on social media:

 

 

Necropolis Launch

I am pleased to announce that Necropolis is now available from all regional Amazons in paperback and Kindle.  Necropolis is a humorous work of dark fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  

Crime Fiction Lover (Britain’s largest and most prestigious crime Fiction review site) has awarded Necropolis 5 out of 5 stars.  Click here to read the review (warning: contains some spoilers).

Necropolis

If you haven’t seen it already this is the blurb for Necropolis:

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed.  He is also a sociopath.  Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit.  But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste.  A barbed joy’

 

Amazon.co.uk – Paperback: £6.99  Kindle: £2.22

Amazon.com Paperback: $10.52  Kindle: $3.73

 

I would like to take this opportunity to thank author, writing professional and friend Diane Mannion (@Dydywriter) for her expertise, encouragement and support.  And thank you Adam (@Alayerdim) for all the erudite book reviews you have contributed to this blog, and for your assistance with my two books.

Necropolis Countdown

There is only one week Day to go until the release of Necropolis (Release Day: Thursday, April 24th).  Necropolis is a humorous work of dark Fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.

The following is an extract from Necropolis:

 

Monday 10:15 a.m. – Newton Community and Business Facility

So here I am at the quarterly cemeteries and funeral business professionals meeting.  It is attended by the majority of those employed in the death business in Newton and the adjoining boroughs, both public and private sector – the good, the bad and the ugly.  Other than our chosen profession there is something else that everyone in here has in common at this given time.  That something is boredom, rapidly descending into apathy.  To my left a Lithuanian gravedigger idly picks his nose.  To my right a mortician plays Sonic on his iPhone.  Next to him a bereavement councillor’s afro-styled head lulls to one side.  In the row in front a morgue rat, his head resting against his shoulder, snores loudly, a stream of drool hanging from the corner of his mouth.  A fellow morgue rat in the adjoining seat glances at the watch on his wrist and then utters an obscenity in some Eastern European language, an action he repeats every minute or so.  That heavy set figure a few rows ahead, with spiky hair bent forward reading a book; that is Rebecca, the overseer of Boden.

At the front of the hall a thin, female, local Conservative councillor wearing glasses is giving a presentation about ‘team’, ‘teamwork’ and the Government’s plans to transfer power from Whitehall to local communities…

Necropolis

This is the blurb for Necropolis (Release Date: April 24th):

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed.  He is also a sociopath.  Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit.  But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety obsessed world in which we live.

 

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste.  A barbed joy’

 

Satire in Literature

Satire Definition: A literary work holding up human vices and follies to ridicule or scorn.

Satirical literature generally comments on current issues, particularly those of a political nature, but also economic, religious and symbolic. Although satire is more often than not amusing, it is designed to provoke a serious reaction.  Many satires make use of humour, but not all comedies are satires.

My book, Necropolis (Release Date: April 24th) is a humorous work of dark Fiction about a sociopath, who works for the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  Necropolis is a black comedy that utilises satirical methods such as humour, exaggeration, understatement, ridicule and mock seriousness to parody the sociopath/psychopath genre, as well as to comment on aspects of contemporary society, such as bureaucracy, political correctness and our attitudes towards death.

Historically significant satirical works include:

Candide by Voltaire – This humorous story ridicules optimism, a central component of Enlightenment philosophy, in addition to criticising organised religion.

Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift – So concerned was the publisher with being charged with treason for publishing Gulliver’s Travels that he tried to tone down the book’s political content, resulting in Swift finding a new publisher.

Vanity Fair by William Makepeace Thackeray – The amusing and verbose Thackeray adroitly presents a panoramic portrait of English society during this period.

The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain – Written shortly after the Civil War, this iconic work embraces satire to mock aspects of the modern world, particularly slavery.

Animal Farm by George Orwell – This serious satirical work can be viewed as an indictment of Stalinism.  So effectively did the book achieve this that it was banned in the Soviet Union.

Necropolis

This is the blurb for Necropolis:

Dyson Devereux works in the Burials and Cemeteries department in his local council.  Dyson is intelligent, incisive and informed.  He is also a sociopath.  Dyson’s contempt for the bureaucracy and banality of his workplace provides ample refuge for his mordant wit.  But the prevalence of Essex Cherubs adorning the headstones of Newton New Cemetery is starting to get on his nerves.

When an opportunity presents itself will Dyson seize his chance and find freedom, or is his destiny to be a life of toil in Burials and Cemeteries?

Brutal, bleak and darkly comical, Necropolis is a savage indictment of the politically correct, health and safety-obsessed world in which we live.

 

‘Not only a funny, twisted, erudite satire on the psychopath genre, this novel also boasts a compelling plot and finely sculpted characters’

‘A black comedy of true distinction’

‘I was at once fascinated and disturbed by the devious Dyson Devereux with his malicious pedantry, wicked schemes and grotesque good taste.  A barbed joy’

 

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