From the nation that elected Barack Obama in the flames of economic disaster comes the first novel of the New Era, The Mere Future, by award-winning novelist, activist, and playwright Sarah Schulman. In this dystopian vision, New York City has morphed into an idealized version of itself, the result of what the newly elected mayor calls "The Big Change." Rent is cheap, homelessness is over, and everyone works in Marketing. Despite the utopian surface, however, there is a disturbing malaise that infects the population. Our heroine, a lowly copywriter, and her girlfriend Nadine just want to fall in love all over again, but can't help noticing that the social packaging may not be recyclable.
Calling on all genres - literary fiction, mystery, fantasy, poetry, and stand-up comedy - Schulman invents a literature that reflects the lives we live right now while being funny, sexy, and open-hearted. Sparkling with witty and provocative social commentary, The Mere Future is a startlingly sharp-eyed prophecy of the world to come that blows literary conventions out of the water.
For a nation that elected Barack Obama as president, here is the first novel of the new era: The Mere Future, by award-winning novelist, activist, and playwright Sarah Schulman, set in a utopian (or is it dystopic?) future vision of New York City. The city has morphed into what appears to be an idealized version of itself, the result of what the new mayor calls "The Big Change," in which rent is cheap, homelessness is a thing of the past, and the only job left is marketing. Advertising no longer appears in public but in the privacy of one's home; chain stores and homogenous culture disappear, and a rugged individualism triumphs. Despite the utopian surface, however, there is a disturbing malaise that infects the population; some openly question how the mayor is paying for such measures, which take place at the expense of anyone feeling anything close to art or emotion, culminating in murder and a resulting trial that transfixes the city. Will justice be served under the new Lifestyle-Appropriate Trial and Sentencing System?
Sparkling with witty and provocative social commentary, The Mere Future is a startling vision of the world to come that blows literary conventions out of the water.
This is Sarah Schulman's twelfth novel; her previous books include Empathy, Rat Bohemia, and The Child (all available from Arsenal Pulp Press). Her awards include a Guggenheim Fellowship and two American Library Association Book awards. She is a professor of English at City University of New York (College of Staten Island).
A brilliant new novel by Sarah Schulman: a satiric vision of New York in the future.
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