The protagonist, a loutish and uber-cerebral antihero known simply as Dog, takes on the challenge to navigate the perilous paradigm shifts of our age, determined to find his proper place under the sun. Is he doomed to failure? Or will he pull it off by heeding his own irreducible voice, given the ebb of the old certainties?
Dog pursues the answer unrelentingly, through an impassioned quest for identity and meaning. He revisits his relationships with women, family, literature, and homeland, in the process illuminating his journey with commentaries on history, religion, politics, and culture that unravel our very fabric.
Marked by biting satire and tappings into lushest scholarship, Dog's naked critique touches on some of the most pressing issues facing humanity: the arrogance of empire and organized religion, the persistence of bigotry, xenophobia, and social Darwinism, the double standards of sexual politics, the bankrupt rationale behind patriotism and state propaganda, and hypercapitalism and consumerism, among others.
An ocean of struggles and epiphanies takes Dog to a spiritual ground zero called Virginland, where the story unfolds. It is also in Virginland that Dog unearths an ancient calendar based on a cosmic worldview. His discovery reveals the mythological underpinnings of the Zodiac, subverting the current conventional wisdom about the subject.
What emerges from the protagonist's odyssey is not only a cogent depiction of what makes us tick, but, as day follows night, a dazzling new vista for social and spiritual transformation.
With its vibrant style, thematic breadth, and, ultimately, unfettered sense of humanity, Journey to Virginland establishes itself as a groundbreaking literary enterprise and a true original.
My Mom's take on the book:
Wow just wow. The book will have your mind racing and you with have to re read a page and ask your self "Did I just read that right?". I was taken in and this book will have you guessing all the way threw it. I felt like I was on a trip and I didn't even leave my recliner lol.
So there you have it from my mother who is almost sixty. I love you mom.
DISCLAIMER: You should NOT read this book if you shy away from thinking
all along, if you eschew advanced vocabulary, if you have entrenched
religious beliefs, or if you expect to read a traditional novel--as the
author turns the conventions of the novel (together with the
underpinnings of religion and human civilization) upside down. (Thanks to Goodreads for this disclaimer)
You can find info about the author & the book on the Journey to Virginland website
Now for the Giveaway: One lucky person will a copy of Journey to Virginland. Open to the US only &
ends 6/22/12. Just fill out the Rafflecopter form below for your chance
to win.
a Rafflecopter giveaway
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