The Librarian at the End of the World
Mark Miller
The Librarian at the End of the World
Mark Miller
Mark Miller’s absurdist adventure, The Librarian at the End of the World is a satirical romp across America. Tracked by the NSA, Ramdas Bingaman and his wife, Colletta, embark on a vacation that soon becomes a quest to avenge his twin brother’s death, to reclaim his crown as champion speedbather, and to acquire enough loot to invest in a line of gourmet cheeses made from celebrity bacteria. Ramdas is soon entangled in the web of an insurance company turf war, an old love’s rekindled affections, and the theft of his prized hand towel, which was once used by Carrie Fisher on the Return of the Jedi set.
Part action, part thriller, all comedy, The Librarian at the End of the World fires on all cylinders. Fans of Thomas Pynchon and David Foster Wallace will revel in the ridiculousness that is Miller’s America.
Stephen Scott Whitaker, writer, member of the National Book Critics Circle and managing editor of The Broadkill Review.
Only two pages into Mark Miller’s new novel I came upon this simile: ‘The suit fits like meringue on pie.’ It’s the kind of literary jolt I read fiction for, and this book produces them time and time again. The first-person narration is wry, sometimes smartass and always beguiling, the kind of voice that sticks with you like an earworm, the kind that leads you down the rabbit hole. Yet, in the end, this romp becomes something else. It becomes a work of art, moving and funny and memorable.
Corey Mesler, author of Memphis Movie and Camel’s Bastard Son
The Librarian at the End of the World is not so much a novel as a perpetual- motion machine: part road-show, part parable, careening between surrealism and comedy as our librarian-hero and his patient lady set off in pursuit of… Well that would be telling too much. Suffice it to say that Mark Miller keeps the action and the laughter coming too fast to stop and think about the meaning of it all. Just sit back and enjoy the ride! Honestly, I hated to put it down. And when I finished, I wassorry to see it end.
Daniel Boyd, author of NADA and EASY DEATH
This book is brilliant. Raunchy, hilarious, heartfelt, and by the end, breathtaking. I loved it!
Nora B Peevy Journal Stone/Trepidatio
A kaleidoscopic affair that references every Carrie Fisher wardrobe malfunction in the card catalogue. Poignant insights about climate calamity and the surveillance state eventually coalesce, and like any good librarian, Miller returns from the stacks with details that you didn’t realize you were looking for.
Mike Sauve, author of I Ain’t Got No Home in this World Anymore.
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