...And the Angel with Television Eyes

From Publishers Weekly

A semi-talented television actor is an unlikely channel for gnostic mysticism and pop phenomenology in this loopy dark fantasy from Shirley (From Hell; Darkness Divided). Max Whitman, star of a hit soap opera, is poised to claim his first serious role on the New York stage when he's overwhelmed by visions of mythical monsters and voice-overs calling him Prince Redmark. A mysterious fan named Carstairs convinces Max that he's one of "the Hidden Race," whose souls are highly developed "plasmagnomes," capable of independent, invisible life after the body's death. The plasmagnomes, which have schismed into factions that either protect or exploit humankind, manipulate the course of human events to serve their ends. The revelation awakens Max to a sense of "tucked-away worlds, living alongside one another, intertwining, and struggling in secret places each to assert its own agenda," and Shirley enhances it with adroit explorations of dualism involving Max's screen persona, a sensory deprivation tank experience and a back-talking interactive computer game. Though clever, the story disseminates its philosophy in preachy monologues that read like college lecture crib notes and suggest there may be less here than meets the eye. Still, the riot of incongruous images that Shirley plucks from our cultural consciousness to incarnate his wispy plasmagnomes adds ballast to his glib satire and shows one of the most energetic imaginations in modern fantastic fiction rising to the challenge of the material.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

As a star in a popular soap opera, Max Whitman desires to expand his acting abilities to include serious parts. A series of strange occurrences, however, sidetracks Max's ambitions and sets him on an eerie path toward insight or insanity as the boundaries of reality collapse and he receives glimpses of a hidden reality populated with monsters and heroes. The author of Wetbones and Dracula in Love continues his exploratory approach to sf and fantasy with a raucous modern fantasy that revels in the shocking and the explicit. Purchase where the author has a following.
Copyright 2001 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From the Publisher

"...And the Angel with Television Eyes" explores the region where fantasy meets reality. This surreal journey of self-discovery and transformation at once questions the nature of our world, and redefines it in the context of 21st century pop culture and technology. It takes a writer of John Shirley's talent and audacity to bring together elements as disparate as Shakespeare, Nietzsche, on-line role playing games, soap operas, and classic mythology - binding them together, creating a heady mélange on, above, and below the streets of Manhattan.

"...And the Angel with Television Eyes" follows the life of Max Whitman, a successful, yet unfulfilled soap opera actor, as his life begins to fall apart. Strange, murderous events suck Max into a maelstrom that leaves him questioning first his own sanity, then the nature of reality. As he is dragged further into a battle between mythic forces that threaten to destroy him and his world, Max must first try and understand the nature of these forces and then find the strength to overcome them. At once a rousing adventure, and a bitingly insightful metaphor for our times, .And the Angel with Television Eyes is sure to keep you at the edge of your seat.

About the Author

John Shirley is the author of numerous books including Constantine, Bioshock: Rapture, and the award-winning Black Butterflies. He was co-screenwriter of the major motion picture The Crow, as well as a television writer for Fox and Paramount. His lifelong interest in Wyatt Earp and years of research have resulted in his first foray into the Western genre, Wyatt in Wichita.

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