Genus - Softcover

Trigell, Jonathan

Softcover

ISBN 10: 184901678X ISBN 13: 9781849016780

Publisher: Corsair, 2011

Synopsis

In the Britain of a few tomorrows time, physical perfection is commonplace and self improvement has become an extinct expression: all the qualities men and women could aspire to can be purchased prior to birth. Genus is a time of genetic selection and enrichment - life chances come on a sliding scale according to wealth. For some there is no money or choice, and an underclass has evolved; London's King's Cross, or The Kross as it is now known, has become a ghetto for the Unimproved. In The Kross, the natural, the dated, the cheap and the dull, live a brittle and unenviable existence. But unrest is growing; tension is mounting and a murderer is abroad in these dark quarters...Acclaimed author Jonathan Trigell's third novel is a breathtaking tour de force, exploring a dystopia of the not-too-distant-a future which will leave readers wondering not 'what if', as the original audience of Huxley's Brave New World did, but 'when'. Praise for Jonathan Trigell: "A compelling narrative, a beautifully structured piece of writing, and a thought-provoking novel of ideas. It's a wonderful debut". (Sarah Waters, Chair of the Judges for the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize on "Boy A"). "A fine and moving debut novel...compulsively readable...a rare treat". ("The Independent" on "Boy A"). "Does for extreme winter sports what Alex Garland's "The Beach" did for backpacking". ("Financial Times" on "Cham").

About this title

About the Author:

Jonathan Trigell was born in Hertfordshire in 1974. In 2002 he took an MA in creative writing at Manchester University; Boy A, his first novel, was his thesis for that course. Boy A won the Waverton Award for best first novel of 2004; the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize, for best book in the Commonwealth by an author under 35; and the inaugural World Book Day Prize, for the most discussion worthy novel by a living writer. Boy A was turned into a film by The Weinstein Co. and Film 4; directed by John Crowley and starring Andrew Garfield and Peter Mullan. It won a total of four Bafta Awards in 2008; the Jury Prize at the Berlin Film Festival and the Jury and Public Prizes at the Dinard Film Festival. His second novel, Cham, was shortlisted for the Boardman Tasker Prize. It is set in the death-sport capital of the world - Chamonix Mont Blanc, in France - where the author himself now lives, pursuing his passion for the mountains. Cham is currently being worked on by a UK production company. Jonathan is currently researching his next novel, provisionally entitled Tarsus.

Review:

Genus is an elegantly written, bleakly exaggerated look between the haves and have-nots. Mr. Trigell uses the bullhorn of science fiction to call out the communal hypocrisy of society. Whatever scientific advance that humanity creates with improvement in mind, Genus argues that we'll never leave our selfish instincts behind. * Pornokitsch.com * Like Aldous Huxley and Margaret Atwood, Trigell explores science, medicine, biology, morality, and religion... Genus is a masterful work of dystopian speculative fiction. * Bookmagnet * the misadventures of the crippled painter, Holman, his former beauty queen mother, Adele Nicole, and the blinded writer, Crick, confirm the promise of Trigell's splendid debut, Boy A. * The Daily Mail * Like Trigell's powerful debut, 'Boy A', a sharp analysis of society underpins this novel. Despite being set in the future, or perhaps because of it, Genus is a blazingly good contemporary novel. * Good Reads * It is an old saying among science fiction fans that anyone can predict the car, it takes brains to predict gridlock. It is not the gadget that takes foresight, it is the uses people will make of it, and then the unintended consequences of those uses... No one can fault Trigell's ingenuity * The Times * Trigell's dystopian divided Britain is epically hellish, rendered through the voices of a procession of characters in a heightened prose that intensifies the sense of a decayed, degenerate world about to implode. Although it is science fiction, the world of Genus - where those who can afford it have their children modified before birth - feels as if it might be just around the corner. * Metro * Trigell doesn't pretend to have any easy answers, only further and more complicated questions. Is genetic perfection a welcome goal? Are humans meant to be free from pain, illness and suffering? Who and what, exactly, defines a disability? * The Independent * No one can fault Trigell's ingenuity. * Times Literary Supplement * Confirm(s) the promise of Trigell's splendid debut, Boy A. * Daily Mail *

About this edition

• Publisher: Corsair
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 184901678X
• ISBN 13: 9781849016780
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 300