Possibility of an Island

(Paperback, Export / Airport ed)

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Description

Daniel is a successful stand-up comedian who has built his reputation on outrageously playing to the prejudices of his public. Celebrated as an acerbic commentator on human life - although actually far more interested in his own sex life than in that of humanity - he has, at the beginning of the 21st century, begun to detest laughter in particular, and mankind in general. However Daniel is unable to stop himself believing in the possibility of love.

A thousand years on, war, drought and earthquakes have decimated the earth and Daniel24 lives alone in a secure compound: the 24th descendant to be cloned from Daniel's DNA. His only companion is Daniel's dog, Fox - also a cloned descendant of the original - and they pass their days in neutral tranquillity, whilst the remnants of the human race, roam outside in packs. As Daniel's story unfolds, a written account that is as much the tale of the implosion of the modern world as a personal history, Daniel24 and then Daniel25, like their predecessors before them, must add their commentaries to it, endeavouring along the way to fathom what Daniel can have meant by 'love', 'sex', 'regret' and 'laughter'.

The Daniel of today, and his descendant of tomorrow, each in their own way resist the limitations of their existence. In the course of their separate attempts to escape, they will both discover the price of immortality.

Reviews

" Bewitching . . . Ingenious . . . "The Possibility of an Island" is often brilliant and searing."
-- "The New York Times Book Review"
" A skillful amalgam of prophesy, satire and science fiction, covering some of the same ground as Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" but with much more finesse and conviction."
-- "Washington Post Book World"
" A sharp check on our hubris, our complacent assumption that things are getting better and better. It is always worth asking whether they are."
-- "Wall Street Journal"
" Brutally honest, hilarious and often crudely explicit . . . The social criticism offered in this novel is often surprisingly relevant and revealing, [with] an underlying empathy for the plight of humanity."
-- "Richmond Times-Dispatch"
" At times funny, brutal, and revolting, ["The Possibility of an Island"] pushes notions of hope and hopelessness to a dismal and logical conclusion."
-- "The Economist"
" Brutally honest, hilarious and often crudely explicit . . . The social criticism offered in this novel is often surprisingly relevant and revealing, [with] an underlying empathy for the plight of humanity."
--Will Carter, "Richmond Times-Dispatch"
" Houellebecq takes on some of the biggest--and most elemental--questions, not only about the dangerous trajectory on which mankind currently seems to be headed but also about the very nature of what may be wrong with humans as a species and with life, the world and the universe in general. "The Possibility of an Island" [is] a skillful amalgam of prophesy, satire and science fiction, covering some of the same ground as Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" but with much more finesse and conviction."
--Merle Rubin, "Washington Post Book World"
" [A] provocative, often funny, intellectually engaging novel . . . combining lurid sexuality with an avalanche of philosophically informed reflections on desire and death."
--Steven E. Alford, "South Florida Sun-Sentinel"
" Bewitching . . . Ingenious . . . "The Possibility of an Island" is often brilliant and searing [as] the logic of sexual liberation [is] run to its absolute extreme."
--Stephen Metcalf, "The New York Times Book Review"
" A sharp check on our hubris, our complacent assumption that things are getting better and better. It is always worth asking whether they are."
--Brian A. Brown, "Wall Street Journal"
" Houellebecq has never written better." "
--Publishers Weekly"
" A bleak comment on contemporary society, at times funny, brutal, and revolting, which pushes notions of hopeand hopelessness to a dismal and logical conclusion."
--"The Economist"

"From the Hardcover edition."

"Brutally honest, hilarious and often crudely explicit . . . The social criticism offered in this novel is often surprisingly relevant and revealing, with an underlying empathy for the plight of humanity."
--Will Carter, "Richmond Times-Dispatch"
"Houellebecq takes on some of the biggest--and most elemental--questions, not only about the dangerous trajectory on which mankind currently seems to be headed but also about the very nature of what may be wrong with humans as a species and with life, the world and the universe in general. "The Possibility of an Island" is a skillful amalgam of prophesy, satire and science fiction, covering some of the same ground as Margaret Atwood's "Oryx and Crake" but with much more finesse and conviction."
--Merle Rubin, "Washington Post Book World"
"A provocative, often funny, intellectually engaging novel . . . combining lurid sexuality with an avalanche of philosophically informed reflections on desire and death."
--Steven E. Alford, "South Florida Sun-Sentinel"
"Bewitching . . . Ingenious . . . "The Possibility of an Island" is often brilliant and searing as the logic of sexual liberation is run to its absolute extreme."
--Stephen Metcalf, "The New York Times Book Review"
"A sharp check on our hubris, our complacent assumption that things are getting better and better. It is always worth asking whether they are."
--Brian A. Brown, "Wall Street Journal"
"Houellebecq has never written better.""
--Publishers Weekly"
"A bleak comment on contemporary society, at times funny, brutal, and revolting, which pushes notions of hope and hopelessness to a dismal and logical conclusion."
--"The Economist"

"From the Hardcover edition."

Author Bio

Michel Houellebecq lives in County Cork, Ireland. He is the bestselling author of Atomised, Platform and Whatever. He is also a poet, essayist and rap artist.