The Electric Michelangelo - by Sarah Hall (Paperback)

About the Book

Book Synopsis

"Wickedly imagined and richly written. . . . Prose as highly colored as Hall's has to to be savored."--The Independent

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MAN BOOKER PRIZE

Cy Parks is the Electric Michelangelo, an artist of extraordinary gifts whose medium happens to be the pliant, shifting canvas of the human body. Fleeing his mother's legacy -- a consumptives' hotel in a fading English seaside resort -- Cy reinvents himself in the incandescent honky-tonk of Coney Island in its heyday between the two world wars. Amid the carnival decadence of freak shows and roller coasters, enchanters and enigmas, scam artists and marks, Cy will find his muse: an enigmatic circus beauty who surrenders her body to his work, but whose soul tantalizingly eludes him.

From the Back Cover

Cy Parks is the Electric Michelangelo, an artist of extraordinary gifts whose medium happens to be the pliant, shifting canvas of the human body. Fleeing his mother's legacy -- a consumptives' hotel in a fading English seaside resort -- Cy reinvents himself in the incandescent honky-tonk of Coney Island in its heyday between the two world wars. Amid the carnival decadence of freak shows and roller coasters, enchanters and enigmas, scam artists and marks, Cy will find his muse: an enigmatic circus beauty who surrenders her body to his work, but whose soul tantalizingly eludes him.

This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.

Review Quotes

"Blindingly swell, like Stendhal describing the Battle of Waterloo, or Jack Kerouac's description of parking cars in a crowded lot or T.E. Lawrence when he cuts loose and sends thousands of noble Arabs roaring across unknown desert sands. It's amazing work. A terrific and original novel by a splendid new writer." -- Washington Post

"The best moments are like this glimpse of the aurora borealis over Morecambe Bay: 'It was light that had neither the impatience of fire, nor the snap of electricity, nor the fluttering sway of a candle. It was light that was nature's grace, unhurried, the slowest, sweeping effulgence.' Like that mysterious light, Hall's novel is to be admired for its own slow grace." -- New York Times Book Review

'Confirms her status as one of the most significant and exciting of our younger novelists ... The Electric Michelangelo is a work of unusual imaginative power and range, and it deserves a wide readership.' -- The Guardian

"A vivid depiction of changing seaside culture on both sides of the Atlantic and a smart study of a subtle but disreputable art." -- The Independent

"The torrential Lawrentian flow of her prose offers many heady pleasures." -- London Times

"Her gorgeously embellished prose compels the narrative, along with the beguiling vignettes she conjures up . . . the effect is intoxicating." -- Financial Times

'Sarah Hall's second novel, is richly descriptive, an evocative exploration of misfits and exiles searching for a home.' -- The Lady

'Hall is a writer to indulge, and her sensuous, poetic prose is every bit as evocative as sand poured from a pocket at the end of a holiday.' -- Daily Mail (London)

'Twisted and tantalising, this is beatifully written and a worthy successor.' -- Ham and High

'The writing is so polished that it is hard to believe the author is only 30.' -- Sunday Telegraph

'The Electric Michelangelo is a work of unusual imaginative power and range.' -- The Guardian

'Hall's sensuous and brilliant imagery does not disappoint.' -- INK Magazine

'Sarah Hall's second book reads with all the colour, guts and flair of the 19th century tale - spinner.' -- The List

'Hall conveys an arresting, colourful and complex world.... Even the most miniscule of nuances fanatically thought through and delivered." -- Jack Magazine

'The Electric Michelangelo is a pleasure to read.' -- Zembla

'A dazzlingly atmospheric and imaginative read.' -- Eve

"Picaresque in its sweep and lovely in its lush description.... Hall's writing is pure joy." -- Publishers Weekly

"Hall's intelligence and ambition are thrilling to behold...she manages to combine the plummy sensuality of Marguerite Duras with the silken abstractions of Michael Ondaatje." -- BookForum

"Hall... is a master wordsmith." -- Charlotte Observer