The Familiar, Volume 3: Honeysuckle & Pain

(Paperback)

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Description

Released for the summer from the perils of school, Xanther and her nameless cat are settling into a comfortable routine at home. However, the rest of the Ibrahim family is growing more and more unsettled. Astair fears their stretched finances are already at a breaking point. Not even a visit from an old friend can mitigate Anwar's feeling that he's failing to support those he loves and that even worse things are to come. The twins, Freya and Shasti, sense something too and blame their older sister. Honeysuckles haunt the air and smell of offerings . . . Meanwhile, Cas and Bobby's survival may depend on facing the one person they fear most. And on the other side of the world, Jingjing and Tian Li set out to find what was lost- their missing cat. With spectacular visuals and the vibrant wordplay that are his trademark, The Familiar (Volume 3) is a beautiful and singular reading experience that could come only from the imagination of Mark Z. Danielewski.

Reviews

Praise for Mark Z. DanielewskisThe Familiar

The series at times recallsUlysses,Infinite Jest, andCloud Atlasin its complexity, structure, and echoing parallel narratives. . . . The literary world is stronger for havingboundary pusherslike Danielewski. Ryan Vlastelica,The A.V. Club

So perfectly relatable, so beautifully rendered. . . . So, so worth it in the way that reading [The Familiar] rewires your brain. Jason Sheehan,NPR Books

Graphic design works in tandem with storytelling in this fascinating, ongoing, humongous experiment with form and the experience of reading. John Freeman,The Boston Globe

[The Familiar] is a remediation of television series likeTwin PeaksandBreaking Bad. . . resembles Altman-inflected movies . . . or the time and place-skipping novels of David Mitchell. . . . Im definitely in. Tom LeClair,The New York Times Book Review

Danielewski has somehow created a format, an experience, that mimics the best of the digital future weve been told toexpect,while exploiting the best of print, that which weve been told to mourn. . . .The Familiaris a tour de force. Allison K. Hill,Los Angeles Daily News

[Danielewski is] the most aggressively avant-garde popular writer working today. . . .The Familiaris as much a narrative story as it is an experiment in visual and typographical forms. . . . It all adds up to something between a graphic novel and a novel-novel. Cady Drell,Newsweek

The author is innovating wildly not only with text but also with narrative flow, structure, and multiplicity of meaning. Loose, imagistic words are followed by tightly layered prose and pictures; this varied density creates a deeply nuanced reading experience that works. A must-read. Library Journal(starred review)

A marvel of postmodern storytelling. Kirkus Reviews

This is a book you cannot missbecause theres simply nothing else like it. Jefferson Grubbs,Bustle

Author Bio

MARK Z. DANIELEWSKI lives in Los Angeles.