- Paperback: 98 pages
- Publisher: CreateSpace (26 April 2011)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1461018021
- ISBN-13: 978-1461018025
- Product Dimensions: 20.3 x 13.3 x 0.6 cm
- Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars See all reviews (12 customer reviews)
The End of the World
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More About the Author
Product Description
Product Description
Accustomed to a life of cosseted seclusion at home with his parents, Valentine is suddenly faced with making his own way in the world. His new life is quickly upended, however, when he's mugged at gunpoint. Finding shelter at a mysterious inn run by the dour Mrs. Anna, he soon encounters a Bosnian woman with a hole where her stomach used to be, an American entrepreneur with a scheme to implant televisions into people's foreheads, and a Catholic priest who attempts to lure him down inside a kitchen sink. Then things start getting strange... An odd, yet oddly touching tale of life, death, and the space in-between.
About the Author
The works of award-winning author and playwright Andrew Biss have been produced in New York, London, Los Angeles, and many other cities across North America and Europe. His plays have won awards on both coasts of the U.S., critical acclaim in the U.K., and are an Off-Off-Broadway mainstay. His work is published by Smith & Kraus, Inc., Meriwether Publishing Ltd., and JAC Publishing & Promotions. He is a graduate of the University of the Arts London, and a member of the Dramatists Guild of America, Inc.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
This book was recommended by a friend, so I downloaded the sample to see for myself. I found I was hooked from the first amusing paragraph and it wasn't long before my mouse wandered back to the 1-click button so I could read the rest.
The book begins with a verbal exchange between a mother and her stay-at-home son. From the first few words, I found myself chortling at the curiously philosophical conversation. The son later meets Anna the landlady, in whose household he spends most of the story. The various other 'lodgers' in Anna's house keep the young man in a state of naive bewilderment with a succession of eccentric propositions and unexpected questions. The only challenge he is able to rise to is when he is accosted by a priest who emerges from a kitchen appliance, in a scene which reminded me of the prison cell visit by a priest in Albert Camus' 'L'Etranger'.
If you can imagine your literary sensibility having feet, with one foot planted in surrealism and the other in existentialism, this book will tickle your toes in a singular fashion with its extravagantly eccentric banter. The story races along at a cracking pace, with barely a pause to draw breath, and includes many wonderful lines like:
"I stood in the doorway, sensing failure but clinging to hope."
- and of a bottomless coffee pot offered as part of the extensive breakfast menu:
"But surely that defies the laws of physics."
"Not if you pay your rent on time."
The mid part of the story veers into the macabre and even horrifiying, as death insinuates itself between the pages. Although death may be peaceful, it can also be horrific. This phase passes, however, and as the story concludes, it finds resolution in a surrealist form of reincarnation. 'The End Of The World' explores how death might also be a very confusing place for the recently and unexpectedly deceased.
I consider this tale to have a strongly humane and humanitarian message. It is an absorbing, entertaining and thought-provoking story, and one I would very highly recommend to anyone who appreciates a surreal and unconventional approach to 'life, death and everything in between'.
The book begins with a verbal exchange between a mother and her stay-at-home son. From the first few words, I found myself chortling at the curiously philosophical conversation. The son later meets Anna the landlady, in whose household he spends most of the story. The various other 'lodgers' in Anna's house keep the young man in a state of naive bewilderment with a succession of eccentric propositions and unexpected questions. The only challenge he is able to rise to is when he is accosted by a priest who emerges from a kitchen appliance, in a scene which reminded me of the prison cell visit by a priest in Albert Camus' 'L'Etranger'.
If you can imagine your literary sensibility having feet, with one foot planted in surrealism and the other in existentialism, this book will tickle your toes in a singular fashion with its extravagantly eccentric banter. The story races along at a cracking pace, with barely a pause to draw breath, and includes many wonderful lines like:
"I stood in the doorway, sensing failure but clinging to hope."
- and of a bottomless coffee pot offered as part of the extensive breakfast menu:
"But surely that defies the laws of physics."
"Not if you pay your rent on time."
The mid part of the story veers into the macabre and even horrifiying, as death insinuates itself between the pages. Although death may be peaceful, it can also be horrific. This phase passes, however, and as the story concludes, it finds resolution in a surrealist form of reincarnation. 'The End Of The World' explores how death might also be a very confusing place for the recently and unexpectedly deceased.
I consider this tale to have a strongly humane and humanitarian message. It is an absorbing, entertaining and thought-provoking story, and one I would very highly recommend to anyone who appreciates a surreal and unconventional approach to 'life, death and everything in between'.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition
Strange little tale that never really goes anywhere and feels as though it is just being odd for odd sake! Reads a little like Will Self but not quite so good ~ the main advantage is that it won't take long to read!
1 of 1 people found the following review helpful
Format:Kindle Edition|Amazon Verified Purchase
From the opening few pages this read identifies itself as whacky and a little bizarre. Biss creates dialogue which is witty yet gives one pause for thought every now and again and, in doing so, has established a singular style that whilst borrowing, a little, from others is unique and refreshing.
Here we follow the tribulations of Valentine as he makes that most arduous journey of all - that of life to death and beyond...perhaps! Without doubt there is a Buddhist undercurrent supporting the story but that's all it does and at no time do the characters proselytize about religion. We are asked to look at ourselves in the context of religion and Biss offers us an explicit Christian pitch delivered by Monsignor Dave via the kitchen sink (I did tell you it was bizarre) to balance out the Buddhist thread which runs throughout the book.
The characters Valentine meets at the B&B allow the author to bring other agendas into the story and he does so skillfully, pricking our collective conscience about matters such as, ethnic cleansing, interfering in world affairs and our part in the state this planet is in.
I have a slight problem with the initial set up and cannot reconcile the fact that our protagonist lived such a cosseted life (he had never set foot outside his garden) prior to ending up where he did with the general tone of Bardo Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo (Shambhala Pocket Classics). There is probably some point to it that my extremely limited knowledge of Tibetan Funerary Text has missed. Perhaps somebody else can enlighten me!
Overall, the book is too short and this work could have been extended easily. Due to it's shortness one feels that the points the author wishes to make are "shoehorned" in and it too readily jumps onto another agenda without fully exploring the previous. On top of that, there is much that could have been made of Valentines relationship with his parents and I think that this is a major failing of the book which downgrades it to "OK", in my opinion.
It is certainly worth the admission fee to take the journey with Valentine and I would say that this book is worth a read, for sure.
Here we follow the tribulations of Valentine as he makes that most arduous journey of all - that of life to death and beyond...perhaps! Without doubt there is a Buddhist undercurrent supporting the story but that's all it does and at no time do the characters proselytize about religion. We are asked to look at ourselves in the context of religion and Biss offers us an explicit Christian pitch delivered by Monsignor Dave via the kitchen sink (I did tell you it was bizarre) to balance out the Buddhist thread which runs throughout the book.
The characters Valentine meets at the B&B allow the author to bring other agendas into the story and he does so skillfully, pricking our collective conscience about matters such as, ethnic cleansing, interfering in world affairs and our part in the state this planet is in.
I have a slight problem with the initial set up and cannot reconcile the fact that our protagonist lived such a cosseted life (he had never set foot outside his garden) prior to ending up where he did with the general tone of Bardo Thodol (The Tibetan Book of the Dead: The Great Liberation Through Hearing in the Bardo (Shambhala Pocket Classics). There is probably some point to it that my extremely limited knowledge of Tibetan Funerary Text has missed. Perhaps somebody else can enlighten me!
Overall, the book is too short and this work could have been extended easily. Due to it's shortness one feels that the points the author wishes to make are "shoehorned" in and it too readily jumps onto another agenda without fully exploring the previous. On top of that, there is much that could have been made of Valentines relationship with his parents and I think that this is a major failing of the book which downgrades it to "OK", in my opinion.
It is certainly worth the admission fee to take the journey with Valentine and I would say that this book is worth a read, for sure.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
Frighteningly Bizzare!
I read this in one sitting, takes just a few hours to get through.
A totally bizarre read right from the start & I hadn't a clue where it would take me. Read more
A totally bizarre read right from the start & I hadn't a clue where it would take me. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Kaska
A surreal story, brilliantly told.
Get ready for a zany roller-coaster ride that becomes more bizarre the further you get into this surreal story. Read more
Published 4 months ago by Mr. A. J. Moreton
One of the worst books I have ever read.
I hated this, I hate the writing style, I hate the content and I hate that I wasted even a small part of my life on this utter rubbish! Read more
Published 10 months ago by plot hound
Humourous, satirical and thought-provoking
Bizarre yet familiar, heart-warming yet chilling, this book keeps you reading, makes you laugh and also makes you think about life and your effect on it. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Valerie Pointon
Great
When I started this book I got the impression the writer was a pompous university graduate who loved his thesaurus. Read more
Published 11 months ago by bushmins
Too many adjectives...
I downloaded this book because it was free and the reviews were good. After the first paragraph I realised that the reviewers and I disagree drastically. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Sam Whittam
Entertaining Escapism
The End of the World
A very interesting read. A great way to pass a few hours and I found my thoughts returning to Mrs Anna's B&B after I closed the last page. Read more
A very interesting read. A great way to pass a few hours and I found my thoughts returning to Mrs Anna's B&B after I closed the last page. Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mrs Mac
Intriguing
I started this book as I was looking for a short story to read in between a longer novel.
From the start I found the writing style very easy to get along with and the... Read more
From the start I found the writing style very easy to get along with and the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Mace
Surreal Story
This is a surreal, clever, literary story by an award-winning playwright. Though it's much shorter than A Confederacy of Dunces, if you have read that book or The Third Policeman,... Read more
Published 14 months ago by Helen Smith
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