Amazon.co.uk Review
All Hail the New Puritans begins with a ten-point manifesto. Part pastiche of modernist manifestos, part bullet-point mission statement, this manifesto claims to eschew
inter alia voice, flashbacks, poetic licence and rhetoric in favour of plain, authentic, transparent testimonial prose.
Fortunately, the practice of the New Puritans is much more interesting and sophisticated than their theory. All set in the present, the stories dissect many aspects of contemporary life with verve, wit and sympathy. While ostensibly offering us faithful representations of the present, many of the stories have considerable satirical bite.
The entertainment/information economy and its possibilities and pitfalls are chronicled in Blincoe's "Short Guide to Game Theory"--a tale of schoolboy rivalry transposed into the conflict between a board-game developer and the aspirant designer of a game called SWING, the object of which is to create and market a pop group; the protagonist and narrator in Matthew Branton's "Monkey See" works as a techie tracing internet porn, who tries to spice up his sex-life with his much-loved wife by joining a swingers group. Tony White's "Poet" explores the possibilities (emotional, economic and formal) of using Excel to write sonnets in a moving meditation on being a writer in a digital age. --Neville Hoad
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
'This is an important collection. Whether you agree with the New Puritan Manifesto or not, if you care about writing you must read this book!The New Puritans have mounted a formidable revolution.' The Times 'It is exciting to find so many good stories in one collection!Thorne and Blincoe have challenged the writer to do something original and that is exactly what the New Puritans have done.' Daily Telegraph