Sway

(Paperback)

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Description

One of the most exciting new voices in literature. Three dramatic and emblematic stories intertwine in Sway - the early days of the Rolling Stones; the life of avant-garde filmmaker Kenneth Anger; and the community of Charles Manson and his followers. Together they illuminate a decade's rise and fall; its gods and devils; and a particular hour in American history when many young revellers seeking joy, fellowship and liberation fell under a darker spell, leading to unprovoked and inexplicable violence.

Reviews

Lazar's hugely impressive achievement is to evoke the energy of an over-documented time in a new way... As dark and enigmatic as its central subjects, Sway often feels like a whole new genre of folklore fiction...it's irresistible * Daily Mail *
Dark, intricate eulogy to the bloody death of Sixties idealism * Esquire *
Lazar is a clever enough writer to let his juxtapositions and cross-cuts do the work: indeed his visual imagination pervades * Times Literary Supplement *
Reveals Lazar to be a considerable talent * Guardian *
Sway is a study of layers of manipulation and control: Manson over his credulous followers; the Stones over their audience; Anger's attempt to harness the forces of magic... Casts a haunting spell over the reader * Daily Telegraph *

Author Bio

Zachary Lazar graduated from Brown University in 1990. He has been a Fellow at the Fine Arts Work Center in Provincetown, Massachusetts, and has received the James Michener/Copernicus Society Prize from the Iowa Writers' Workshop. Lazar grew up in Colorado and now teaches at Hofstra University. Sway is his second novel.