About this product

Product Identifiers

PublisherCity Lights

ISBN-100872864081

ISBN-139780872864085

eBay Product ID (ePID)2238629

Product Key Features

Book TitleInstant Karma

Number of Pages112 Pages

LanguageEnglish

TopicPsychological, Literary

Publication Year2002

IllustratorYes

GenreFiction

AuthorMark Swartz

FormatTrade Paperback

Dimensions

Item Height0.4 in

Item Weight4.9 Oz

Item Length7.2 in

Item Width5 in

Additional Product Features

Intended AudienceTrade

LCCN2002-073841

ReviewsInstant Karma reminds me of a number of my favorite books - Gogol's scary-funny Diary of a Madman comes to mind. But it's a special kind of madness, book madness, the terror and pleasure of reading that is conjured up, making one think of the novels of David Markson, the inspired frenzy of John Leonard's critical prose, and of course the great novel in footnotes, Pale Fire. But Instant Karma is sui generis: Mark Swartz offers us an exploded library of crazy wisdom in brilliant fragments., This novella proves that too much reading can cause a shy boy to use explosives. The attenuated Young Werther here, direct heir to all the neurasthenic adolescents in literature, updates himself with late twentieth-century books, but stays in character. Nice satire, useful common reader., What a pleasure it is to read a book that is so wholly itself -- contained and furious, timely and profound, and deeply, rigorously smart. I underlined passage after passage, as Swartz synthesizes the voices of countless other authors with his own, making a book built of books, creating both castles and rubble in the reader's mind. A striking debut., What a pleasure it is to read a book that is so wholly itself - contained and furious, timely and profound, and deeply, rigorously smart. I underlined passage after passage, as Swartz synthesizes the voices of countless other authors with his own, making a book built of books, creating both castles and rubble in the reader's mind. A striking debut., ...concentrated and diabolically clever novel... this is a tricky puzzle of a tale, one readers will enjoy in direct proportion to their interest in the roles books and libraries play in our lives, and to their familiarity with the diverse sources Swartz so cannily samples and remixes in this intelligent, arch, timely and piquant satire., Instant Karma reminds me of a number of my favorite books -- Gogol's scary-funny Diary of a Madman comes to mind. But it's a special kind of madness, book madness, the terror and pleasure of reading that is conjured up, making one think of the novels of David Markson, the inspired frenzy of John Leonard's critical prose, and of course the great novel in footnotes, Pale Fire. But Instant Karma is sui generis: Mark Swartz offers us an exploded library of crazy wisdom in brilliant fragments., Welcome to the oddball world of David Felsenstein, a Chicago loner who's part Young Werther, part Travis Bickle and part post-adolescent Borges... a kind of Dewey Decimal tribute to Paul Auster's Leviathan..., Funny, erudite, tender, and sad, Instant Karma traces the mental disintegration of a young man's journey from solitary bilbiophile to Dada-library terrorist. But the book is also a meditation on our fragmented culture -- that mysterious hodge-podge of conflicting images and myriad bits of text that threaten to destroy all possible meaning. In Mark Swartz's hapless anti-hero, David Felsenstein, the distance between incendiary idea and literal explosion becomes both dangerously small and frighteningly real., Mark Swartz's irreverent first novel, Instant Karma, features a lonely bookish pack rat... there is some sense in which Instant Karma can stand as an odd second cousin to Jonathan Franzen's recent collection of essays, How To Be Alone., Instant Karma is irresistible from beginning to end. To make this original treatment of a complex and indeed zany subject so consistently entertaining is proof of a new and prodigious talent., As a reference librarian I have sometimes wondered what goes on in the hearts and minds of the many people who use the library all day, every day. Swartz provides just such a glimpse into one fictional psyche. Instant Karma's troubled protagonist's diary entries, obsessively footnoted from idiosyncratically disparate library texts, lead toward a potentially explosive end., Funny, erudite, tender, and sad, Instant Karma traces the mental disintegration of a young man's journey from solitary bilbiophile to Dada-library terrorist. But the book is also a meditation on our fragmented culture - that mysterious hodge-podge of conflicting images and myriad bits of text that threaten to destroy all possible meaning. In Mark Swartz's hapless anti-hero, David Felsenstein, the distance between incendiary idea and literal explosion becomes both dangerously small and frighteningly real., Instant Karma is insta-good, a tour de force, an engaging, farcical, joyful reprise of 1000 great ideas tumbling around in one humble brain, in one ordinary body. It has a great, remarkable, explosive ending that explodes right into your heart. Buy it and keep it with you at all times., An obsessive read about an obsessive reader, Mark Swartz's Instant Karma is a book with the sort of power that makes you remember the sort of power books have., Imagine a collaboration between David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on a book about the interrelationship of art and anarchy.... What you end up with is Mark Swartz's weird but wonderful Instant Karma...

Dewey Edition21

Dewey Decimal813/.6

SynopsisPart Unabomber, part van Gogh, David Pelenstein yearns to create an unforgettable masterpiece. He spends his days in the Chicago Public Library, browsing the stacks in search of connections between obscure volume, scrupulously footnoting his research into anarchy, magnetotherapy, plastic surgery and more. We read this journal, tracing his course through books and philosophies as he prepares his magnum opus--blowing up the library that he loves. Fueled by lust for Eve Jablom, the young woman at the library's checkout desk, Felsenstein hones his plans to perfection. All that remains is to carry them out. " Instant Karma is irresistible from beginning to end. To make this original treatment of a complex and indeed zany subject so consistently entertaining is proof of a new and prodigious talent."--Harry Matthews, author of Cigarettes and Tlooth " . . . a tour de force, an engaging, farcical, joyful reprise of 1000 great ideas tumbling around in one humble brain, in one ordinary body."--Frederick Barthlme, author of painted Desert " . . . concentrated and diabolically clever novel . . . this is a tricky puzzle of a tale, one readers will enjoy in direct proportion to their interest in the roles books and libraries play in our lives, and to their familiarity with the diverse sources Swartz so cannily samples and remixes in this intelligent, arch, timely and piquant satire."-- The Chicago Tribune "Welcome to the oddball world of David Felsenstein, a Chicago loner who's part Young Werther, part Travis Bickle and part post-adolescent Borges . . . a kind of Dewey Decimal tribute to Paul Auster's Leviathan . . . "-- The Los Angeles Times "Imagine a collaboration between David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on a book about the interrelationship of art and anarchy . . . What you end up with is Mark Swartz's weird but wonderful Instant Karma . . . "-- Washington City Paper "Mark Swartz's irreverent first novel, Instant Karma , features a lonely bookish pack rat . . . there is some sense in which Instant Karma can stand as an odd second cousin to Jonathan Franzen's recent collection of essays, How To Be Alone ."-- Readerville "An obsessive read about an obsessive reader, Mark Swartz's Instant Karma is a book with the sort of power that makes you remember the sort of power books have."--Daniel Handler, author of Watch Your Mouth and The Basic Eight "This novella proves that too much reading can cause a shy boy to use explosives. The attenuated Young Werther here, direct heir to all the neurasthenic adolescents in literature, updates himself with late twentieth-century books, but stays in character. Nice satire, useful common reader."--Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of Ay Cuba! A Socio-Erotic Journey and Cassanova in Bohemia "As a reference librarian I have sometimes wondered what goes on in the hearts and minds of the many people who use the library all day, every day. Swartz provides just such a glimpse into one fictional psyche. Instant Karma 's troubled protagonist's diary entries, obsessively footnoted from idiosyncratically disparate library texts, lead toward a potentially explosive end."--Jim Van Buskirk, Reference Librarian, San Francisco Public Library Mark Swartz is a writer from Chicago now living in Brooklyn. He works for the Museum of Modern Art as a copywriter and editor., Part Unabomber, part van Gogh, David Pelenstein yearns to create an unforgettable masterpiece. He spends his days in the Chicago Public LIbrary, browsing the stacks in search of connections between obscure volume, scrupulously footnoting his research into anarchy, magnetotherapy, plastic surgery, and more. We read this journal, tracing his course through books and philosophies as he prepares his magnum opus&nash;blowing up the library that he loves. Fueled by lust for Eve Jablom, the young woman at the library's checkout desk, Felsenstein hones his plans to perfection. All that remains is to carry them out. " Instant Karma is irresistible from beginning to end. To make this original treatment of a complex and indeed zany subject so consistently entertaining is proof of a new and prodigious talent." --Harry Matthews, author of Cigarettes and Tlooth ". . .a tour de force, an engaging, farcical, joyful reprise of 1000 great ideas tumbling around in one humble brain, in one ordinary body." --Frederick Barthlme, author of painted Desert "...concentrated and diabolically clever novel... this is a tricky puzzle of a tale, one readers will enjoy in direct proportion to their interest in the roles books and libraries play in our lives, and to their familiarity with the diverse sources Swartz so cannily samples and remixes in this intelligent, arch, timely and piquant satire." -- The Chicago Tribune " Welcome to the oddball world of David Felsenstein, a Chicago loner who's part Young Werther, part Travis Bickle and part post-adolescent Borges... a kind of Dewey Decimal tribute to Paul Auster's Leviathan..." -- The Los Angeles Times "Imagine a collaboration between David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on a book about the interrelationship of art and anarchy . . . . What you end up with is Mark Swartz's weird but wonderful Instant Karma . . ." -- Washington City Paper "Mark Swartz's irreverent first novel, Instant Karma , features a lonely bookish pack rat . . . there is some sense in which Instant Karma can stand as an odd second cousin to Jonathan Franzen's recent collection of essays, How To Be Alone ." -- Readerville "An obsessive read about an obsessive reader, Mark Swartz's Instant Karma is a book with the sort of power that makes you remember the sort of power books have." --Daniel Handler, author of Watch Your Mouth and The Basic Eight "This novella proves that too much reading can cause a shy boy to use explosives. The attenuated Young Werther here, direct heir to all the neurasthenic adolescents in literature, updates himself with late twentieth-century books, but stays in character. Nice satire, useful common reader." --Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of Ay Cuba! A Socio-Erotic Journey and Cassanova in Bohemia "As a reference librarian I have sometimes wondered what goes on in the hearts and minds of the many people who use the library all day, every day. Swartz provides just such a glimpse into one fictional psyche. Instant Karma 's troubled protagonist's diary entries, obsessively footnoted from idiosyncratically disparate library texts, lead toward a potentially explosive end." --Jim Van Buskirk, Reference Librarian, San Francisco Public Library Mark Swartz is a writer from Chicago now living in Brooklyn. He works for the Museum of Modern Art as a copywriter and editor., Part Unabomber, part van Gogh, David Pelenstein yearns to create an unforgettable masterpiece. He spends his days in the Chicago Public Library, browsing the stacks in search of connections between obscure volume, scrupulously footnoting his research into anarchy, magnetotherapy, plastic surgery and more. We read this journal, tracing his course through books and philosophies as he prepares his magnum opus--blowing up the library that he loves. Fueled by lust for Eve Jablom, the young woman at the library's checkout desk, Felsenstein hones his plans to perfection. All that remains is to carry them out. " Instant Karma is irresistible from beginning to end. To make this original treatment of a complex and indeed zany subject so consistently entertaining is proof of a new and prodigious talent."--Harry Matthews, author of Cigarettes and Tlooth " . . . a tour de force, an engaging, farcical, joyful reprise of 1000 great ideas tumbling around in one humble brain, in one ordinary body."--Frederick Barthlme, author of painted Desert " . . . concentrated and diabolically clever novel . . . this is a tricky puzzle of a tale, one readers will enjoy in direct proportion to their interest in the roles books and libraries play in our lives, and to their familiarity with the diverse sources Swartz so cannily samples and remixes in this intelligent, arch, timely and piquant satire."-- The Chicago Tribune "Welcome to the oddball world of David Felsenstein, a Chicago loner who's part Young Werther, part Travis Bickle and part post-adolescent Borges . . . a kind of Dewey Decimal tribute to Paul Auster's Leviathan . . . "-- The Los Angeles Times "Imagine a collaboration between David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on a book about the interrelationship of art and anarchy . . . What you end up with is Mark Swartz's weird but wonderful Instant Karma . . . "-- Washington City Paper "Mark Swartz's irreverent first novel, Instant Karma , features a lonely bookish pack rat . . . there is some sense in which Instant Karma can stand as an odd second cousin to Jonathan Franzen's recent collection of essays, How To Be Alone ."-- Readerville "An obsessive read about an obsessive reader, Mark Swartz's Instant Karma is a book with the sort of power that makes you remember the sort of power books have."--Daniel Handler, author of Watch Your Mouth and The Basic Eight "This novella proves that too much reading can cause a shy boy to use explosives. The attenuated Young Werther here, direct heir to all the neurasthenic adolescents in literature, updates himself with late twentieth-century books, but stays in character. Nice satire, useful common reader."--Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of Ay Cuba A Socio-Erotic Journey and Cassanova in Bohemia "As a reference librarian I have sometimes wondered what goes on in the hearts and minds of the many people who use the library all day, every day. Swartz provides just such a glimpse into one fictional psyche. Instant Karma 's troubled protagonist's diary entries, obsessively footnoted from idiosyncratically disparate library texts, lead toward a potentially explosive end."--Jim Van Buskirk, Reference Librarian, San Francisco Public Library Mark Swartz is a writer from Chicago now living in Brooklyn. He works for the Museum of Modern Art as a copywriter and editor., A prescient novel about the artistic and philosophical delusions that lead to an act of "terrorism.", Part Unabomber, part van Gogh, David Pelenstein yearns to create an unforgettable masterpiece. He spends his days in the Chicago Public Library, browsing the stacks in search of connections between obscure volume, scrupulously footnoting his research into anarchy, magnetotherapy, plastic surgery and more. We read this journal, tracing his course through books and philosophies as he prepares his magnum opus--blowing up the library that he loves. Fueled by lust for Eve Jablom, the young woman at the library's checkout desk, Felsenstein hones his plans to perfection. All that remains is to carry them out. "Instant Karma is irresistible from beginning to end. To make this original treatment of a complex and indeed zany subject so consistently entertaining is proof of a new and prodigious talent."--Harry Matthews, author of Cigarettes and Tlooth " . . . a tour de force, an engaging, farcical, joyful reprise of 1000 great ideas tumbling around in one humble brain, in one ordinary body."--Frederick Barthlme, author of painted Desert " . . . concentrated and diabolically clever novel . . . this is a tricky puzzle of a tale, one readers will enjoy in direct proportion to their interest in the roles books and libraries play in our lives, and to their familiarity with the diverse sources Swartz so cannily samples and remixes in this intelligent, arch, timely and piquant satire."--The Chicago Tribune "Welcome to the oddball world of David Felsenstein, a Chicago loner who's part Young Werther, part Travis Bickle and part post-adolescent Borges . . . a kind of Dewey Decimal tribute to Paul Auster's Leviathan . . . "--The Los Angeles Times "Imagine a collaboration between David Sedaris and David Foster Wallace on a book about the interrelationship of art and anarchy . . . What you end up with is Mark Swartz's weird but wonderful Instant Karma . . . "--Washington City Paper "Mark Swartz's irreverent first novel, Instant Karma, features a lonely bookish pack rat . . . there is some sense in which Instant Karma can stand as an odd second cousin to Jonathan Franzen's recent collection of essays, How To Be Alone."--Readerville "An obsessive read about an obsessive reader, Mark Swartz's Instant Karma is a book with the sort of power that makes you remember the sort of power books have."--Daniel Handler, author of Watch Your Mouth and The Basic Eight "This novella proves that too much reading can cause a shy boy to use explosives. The attenuated Young Werther here, direct heir to all the neurasthenic adolescents in literature, updates himself with late twentieth-century books, but stays in character. Nice satire, useful common reader."--Andrei Codrescu, NPR commentator and author of Ay Cuba! A Socio-Erotic Journey and Cassanova in Bohemia "As a reference librarian I have sometimes wondered what goes on in the hearts and minds of the many people who use the library all day, every day. Swartz provides just such a glimpse into one fictional psyche. Instant Karma's troubled protagonist's diary entries, obsessively footnoted from idiosyncratically disparate library texts, lead toward a potentially explosive end."--Jim Van Buskirk, Reference Librarian, San Francisco Public Library Mark Swartz is a writer from Chicago now living in Brooklyn. He works for the Museum of Modern Art as a copywriter and editor.

LC Classification NumberPS3619.W37I57 2002