All Hail the New Puritans [Paperback]

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.

‘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

‘All Hail, the New Puritans’ is the collection of new stories from the most exciting young novelists today. Inspired by the Dogme 95 group of film makers, the New Puritans are attempting to rediscover fiction as a discipline rather than a category.

1. Primarily storytellers, we are dedicated to the narrative form.

2. We are prose writers and recognise that prose is the dominant form of expression.

For this reason we shun poetry and poetic licence in all its forms.

3. While acknowledging the value of genre fiction, whether classical or modern, we will always move towards new openings, rupturing existing genre expectations.

4. We believe in textual simplicity and vow to avoid all devices of voice: rhetoric, authorial asides.

5. In the name of clarity, we recognise the importance of temporal linearity and eschew flashbacks, dual temporal narratives and foreshadowing.

6. We believe in grammatical purity and avoid any elaborate punctuation.

7. We recognise that published works are also historical documents. As fragments of our time, all our texts are dated and set in the present day. All products, places, artists and objects named are real.

8. As faithful representation of the present, our texts will avoid all improbable or unknowable speculations on the past or the future.

9. We are moralists, so all text feature a recognisable ethical reality.

10. Nevertheless, our aim is integrity of expression, above and beyond any commitment to form.

All Hail the New Puritans is the controversial anthology of new British writing, based on this ten point pledge:
• 1 Primarily storytellers, we are dedicated to the narrative form.

• 2 We are prose writers and recognise that prose is the dominant form of expression. For this reason we shun poetry and poetic licence in all its forms.

• 3 While acknowledging the value of genre fiction, whether classical or modern, we will always move towards new openings, rupturing existing genre expectations.

• 4 We believe in textual simplicity and vow to avoid all devices of voice: rhetoric, authorial asides.

• 5 In the name of clarity, we recognise the importance of temporal linearity and eschew flashbacks, dual temporal narratives and foreshadowing.

• 6 We believe in grammatical purity and avoid any elaborate punctuation.

• 7 We recognise that published works are also historical documents. As fragments of our time, all our texts are dated and set in the present day. All products, places, artists and objects named are real.

• 8 As faithful representations of the present, our texts will avoid all improbable or unknowable speculation about the past or the future.

• 9 We are moralists, so all texts feature a recognisable ethical reality.

• 10 Nevertheless, our aim is integrity of expression, above and beyond any commitment to form.

Alex Garland; Toby Litt; Scarlett Thomas; Rebbecca Ray; Nicholas Blincoe; Daren King; Matt Thorne; Ben Richards; Bo Fowler; Candida Clarke; Geoff Dyer; Simon Lewis; Matthew Branton; Tony White; Anna Davis.