50 Years Ago, Kingsley Amis Had a Midlife Crisis and Turned to James Bond for Help
007 was the right hero for the right author. If Bond could defeat SPECTRE and SMERSH, surely he could help a 40-something bloke get back on his feet again?
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Did Vladimir Nabokov Write the Great Refugee Novel?
During the first hundred pages, you might even assume that this is a comic novel. But as the tragedy of Pnin’s life unfolds, in flashbacks and reminiscences, the reader is shocked into a deeper awareness of the reality of the refugee’s life in exile.
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Italo Calvino’s Science Fiction Masterpiece
Cosmicomics is that rarity among progressive texts: its premises are absurd and almost incoherent, yet the plot lines are filled with romance, drama, and conflicts that draw the readers deeper and deeper into the text.
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Martin Gardner: The Most Interesting Man in the World
You may think that the most interesting man in the world has a scraggly gray beard, drinks Mexican beer, and hangs out with women half his age. But you’re dead wrong. I discovered the real deal, the authentic most interesting man in the world. His name was Martin Gardner.
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The Weird 1969 New Wave Sci-Fi Novel that Correctly Predicted the Current Day
Stand on Zanzibar is set in the year 2010, and this allows us to make a point-by-point comparison and marvel at novelist John Brunner’s uncanny ability to anticipate the shape of the world to come. Indeed, his vision of the year 2010 even includes a popular leader named President Obomi.
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