Anonyma - by Farah Rose Smith (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The history of art is littered with Great Men and the Muses they use as stepping stones to brilliance. In this shockingly lyrical, endlessly rich and luxurious nightmare of a novel, the Muse turns. Yet, it is not so much a tale of vengeance or comeuppance as it is a heroine's journey, as Anonyma survives doomscapes almost beyond imagination and the transgressions of mere men, mere artists, survives the horrors imposed upon the feminine to rediscover her own magic and power. Anonyma, novel and narrator, holds up a dark mirror to our paradigm of art as a kind of device for reducing women to Platonic ideals while staging theophanies for men. But she also holds the mirror to herself, her sisters, even, daring to hope, a daughter. Anonyma is a novel full of blood and love and despair and courage.

Review Quotes

"Anonyma is an explosion of language and imagery, dense and uncompromising. Filled with beauty, horror, and a cleansing rage, this book casts a searing eye over the corrupted relationship between women, men, and Art. A decadent treat."

- Nathan Ballingrud, Author of THE VISIBLE FILTH and NORTH AMERICAN LAKE MONSTERS

"The history of art is littered with Great Men and the Muses they use as stepping stones to brilliance. In this shockingly lyrical, endlessly rich and luxurious nightmare of a novel, the Muse turns. Yet, it is not so much a tale of vengeance or comeuppance as it is a heroine's journey, as Anonyma survives doomscapes almost beyond imagination and the transgressions of mere men, mere artists, survives the horrors imposed upon the feminine to rediscover her own magic and power. Anonyma, novel and narrator, holds up a dark mirror to our paradigm of art as a kind of device for reducing women to Platonic ideals while staging theophanies for men. But she also holds the mirror to herself, her sisters, even, daring to hope, a daughter. Full of blood and love and despair and courage, this is a novel like few others I have encountered."

- Jayaprakash Satyamurthy, Author of WEIRD TALES OF A BANGALOREAN

"Farah Rose Smith's Anonyma is both passionate and despairing, showcasing a distinct point of view and a powerful aptitude for the relationship between content and form. Smith's writing evaluates the darkest possibilities of artistic narcissism and self-loathing, bolstered by bleak philosophical insight and gorgeously lyrical prose. Essential reading for admirers of dark literature."

- Mike Thorn, Author of DARKEST HOURS

"The painful intensities that Farah Rose Smith choreographs in her fiction are genuine, and urgent. For sensitivity, and for focus on the power of individual words, she is unmatched."

- Michael Cisco, author of UNLANGUAGE AND ANTISOCIETIES

"Anonyma is a hallucinogenic, decadent vision-quest in response to severe physical and emotional abuse and existential dread. The literary landscape behind this novella is astonishing in its scope and in the genius of its imagination. At times, I was favorably reminded of Les Chants de Maldoror by Comte de Lautréamont-or rather a brilliantly feminist response to that surreal, visionary work. There's a dark triumph in Anonyma's visceral and supernatural suffering and (at times) self-defeating exploration of identity, which is paradoxically inspiring. Anonyma evokes a plaintive yearning for the nurturing of life, both the wounded persona's own and the lives of those female multitudes inside of her."

- Jon Padgett, author of The Secret of Ventriloquism