Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfish

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Essays on literature, pop culture, and more from the cult novelist and critic Tom McCarthy present a map of his sensibility and critical intelligence. Fifteen brilliant essays span a range of subjects, including the weather as media, Gerhard Richter's paintings, David Lynch's films, and Patty Hearst as a revolutionary figure. The collection also delves into the enduring implications of literary masterpieces like Ulysses and Tristram Shandy, alongside Alexander Trocchi's Cain's Book. The essay "Recessional" explores the relationship between time and writing, suggesting that writing creates its own temporal space, distinct from institutional time. In "Nothing Will Have Taken Place," McCarthy connects figures like Mallarme and Don DeLillo with Zidane's athletic prowess, illustrating how art disrupts established meanings and behaviors, returning them to a state of play. Recurring references, such as Ed Ruscha's Royal Road Test and the proliferation of jellyfish in oceans, raise the question of how art can challenge the conventions of realism—both aesthetic and political—to actively reinvent the world.