Fiction. James Greer’s fiction debut is the latest in Dennis Cooper’s groundbreaking Little House on the Bowery series. Stunningly written in prose that is poetic, gripping, and highly adventurous, ARTIFICIAL LIGHT may be the first American novel to successfully treat the alternative rock scene of the 1990s as a subject for serious literature. “ARTIFICIAL LIGHT beats the bejeezus out of the last dozen Thomas Pynchons, the last nineteen Don DeLillos, and the last forty-three Kurt Vonneguts”–Richard Meltzer. James Greer has written a novel at once completely original in its form, composition and outlook and yet as classically pleasurable and informative as any work of contemporary fiction in memory.
“Artificial Light skates on the purity of confession. It’s a brutal reveal; an Abyss Narrative with hooks. Read it in a rush of abomination and rise above, rise above.” ― Stephen Malkmus
“When is flight not-flight? How does a dead (very dead) celebrity manage to be not-dead? Why are Dayton, Ohio, and not-Dayton so endgame-compatible? James Greer eats being and non-being for breakfast, and his tale is one of Parmenidian oompah and shebang. As apocalyptic page-turners go,
Artificial Light beats the bejeezus out of the last dozen Thomas Pynchons, the last nineteen Don DeLillos, and the last forty-three Kurt Vonneguts. I wouldn’t shit ya.” ― Richard Meltzer, author of A Whore Just Like the Rest
“Fiat Lux gleams like an onyx from a vivid and darkly mythical world. She is impossible to forget and her skewed cynicism and solipsistic melancholy linger long after you’ve turned the final page. Greer’s writing is lean and poetic, shot through with sagacious observations and demented humor, but at the heart of his strange semi-sci fi world there is a huge human tenderness, moments of heart-rending lyrical beauty, and a rabid, breathtaking imagination.” ―
Helen Walsh, author of Brass
About the Author
James Greer is the author of THE FAILURE (Akashic Books, 2010); ARTIFICIAL LIGHT (Akashic Books, 2006), winner of the California Book Award for Best Debut Novel; and the nonfiction book Guided By Voices: A Brief History (Grove), a biography about a band for which he once played bass guitar. He is currently working on a rock musical about Cleopatra starring Catherine Zeta-Jones. He lives in Los Angeles.
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