Love and Mayhem [Hardcover]

"A twisted tale of love set in a darker side of London ... it has sly plot twists and persuasive [characters] ... and whispers of promising novels - or movies - to come." --Time Out, August 31, 2005

"An absolutely stunning debut novel. It is for the lovelorn, and for those in love. It is just very well-written." --Between the Lines, Oneword, July 27, 2005 --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Nick Taussig's first novel is a powerful tale of sexual restlessness and need, a deconstruction of that intangible concept we call love. Taussig's bold and uncompromising style reflects the raw sexual needs of his characters as they rage against conventional notions of monogamy and fidelity.

The central characters - Jack, Catherine and Gold - appear as a triangle of destructive internal forces, each of them threatened with lost love and potential tragedy.

Taussig draws on his own experiences, first, in his exploration of homelessness and its common facets of mental illness and alcoholism, and second, in his study of madness and the fine line between reason and unreason.

The result is a starkly honest tale of love, sex and obsession in the twenty-first century.

Nick Taussig's first novel is a powerful tale of sexual restlessness and need, an exploration and deconstruction of that intangible concept we call love. Taussig's bold and uncompromising style reflects the raw sexual needs of his characters as they rage against conventional notions of monogamy and fidelity.

Set against a stark background of neo-Dickensian London, the novel delves deep into the multiplicitous nature of the self. The central characters - Jack, Catherine and Gold - appear as a triangle of destructive internal forces, each of them threatened with lost love and potential tragedy.

Taussig draws on his own experiences, first, in his exploration of homelessness and its common facets of mental illness and alcoholism, and second, in his study of madness and the fine line between reason and unreason.

The result is a starkly honest tale of love, sex and obsession in the twenty-first century. --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

If there are any readers of my first novel who have comments, please email me at nt@nicktaussig.com

The novel tells the story of love affair between Jack Stoltz and Catherine Ramirez. A rather shy, intense and introspective man, his desire for her is strong and abrupt. She, his opposite, is wild, sensual and mercurial.

Theirs is an obsessive love, ardent and intense while dangerously self-destructive in its all-consuming design. When at last their love realised, it exists as a delicate and fragile entity, constantly threatening to be consumed by its own intensity and their own deeply buried but explosive anxieties.

Jack's encounter with a destitute and desperate stranger - a man who believes there's no purpose in looking for love in a selfish, violent and hypocritical world - threatens to destroy not only Jack and Catherine's love for one another but their very identities.

Nick Taussig's first novel is a powerful tale of sexual restlessness and need, a deconstruction of that intangible concept we call love. Taussig's bold and uncompromising style reflects the raw sexual needs of his characters as they rage against conventional notions of monogamy and fidelity.

The central characters - Jack, Catherine and Gold - appear as a triangle of destructive internal forces, each of them threatened with lost love and potential tragedy.

Taussig draws on his own experiences, first, in his exploration of homelessness and its common facets of mental illness and alcoholism, and second, in his study of madness and the fine line between reason and unreason.

The result is a starkly honest tale of love, sex and obsession in the twenty-first century.

Nick Taussig was born in 1973. He lives in London. He studied literature and philosophy at the University of Durham, where he obtained a First, then went on to acquire a Master's in Russian literature from the University of London. Love & Mayhem is his first novel. He has co-written a feature film called Just Left of Heaven, which is due to star Peter Mullan. He is currently writing his second novel.

The last few days, Catherine has felt like she is flying: she is happy all the time. And she feels like this now as she squints her eyes, peering through the branches at the blue above her, flying through the sky, over a lush landscape and towards a big city. And suddenly she is in the city, gliding above streets and people. She dives down and then swoops up again, up the side of a very tall building ... yes, a skyscraper. Up and up like a bird.
Oh ... she, Catherine, can do anything, absolutely anything. The whole world is hers. Everyone is beautiful. She loves them all. She wants to help everyone in need, care for them all. Life has become a daydream, a carnival of magical colours, everything so bright and clear, wherever she looks. Catherine does not know why she feels so elated, so wonderful, powerful: it does not make sense. But she does know she must savour this high while it lasts: she has secretly been longing for it for some time. She stared at herself in the mirror when she got up this morning and did not quite know who she was.
Catherine puts on her headphones now as she looks at the sky again, blue, so blue. She feels like she is going inside the music, feels it so closely she becomes it. Personal identity gone. She is a soprano's voice. The pluck of a guitar string. She is so free. It feels like an orgasm; it is unstoppable. She is higher than she has ever been before, Catherine thinks. She knows she is flying too high, like Icarus she is too close to the sun. Her fall is inevitable, but she does not care. While she feels this good, may it last as long as it can... --This text refers to the Paperback edition.