A Very Private Life (1968)
Michael Frayn
With a new introduction by the author
Book Description
Uncumber lives in the distant future, in a world sharply divided between ‘Insiders’ and ‘Outsiders’. The Insiders lead a privileged existence: never having to leave their homes, they enjoy a vastly prolonged lifespan, a regular supply of food and mind-altering drugs, and holographic entertainment at the push of a button. Meanwhile, the Outsiders, half-savage, inhabit a polluted wilderness of ruins and industrial waste, struggling for survival.
Uncumber has been warned never to go outside. But when she meets an Outsider on the Holovision and falls in love with him, she becomes curious and decides to venture out into the world . . .
Equal parts dystopian science fiction and brilliant social satire, Michael Frayn’s eerily prescient fourth novel A Very Private Life (1968) earned widespread critical acclaim and comparisons to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. This edition features a new introduction by the author.
Michael Frayn
With a new introduction by the author
Book Description
Uncumber lives in the distant future, in a world sharply divided between ‘Insiders’ and ‘Outsiders’. The Insiders lead a privileged existence: never having to leave their homes, they enjoy a vastly prolonged lifespan, a regular supply of food and mind-altering drugs, and holographic entertainment at the push of a button. Meanwhile, the Outsiders, half-savage, inhabit a polluted wilderness of ruins and industrial waste, struggling for survival.
Uncumber has been warned never to go outside. But when she meets an Outsider on the Holovision and falls in love with him, she becomes curious and decides to venture out into the world . . .
Equal parts dystopian science fiction and brilliant social satire, Michael Frayn’s eerily prescient fourth novel A Very Private Life (1968) earned widespread critical acclaim and comparisons to Aldous Huxley’s Brave New World. This edition features a new introduction by the author.
reviews
‘A weird and frightening intensity.’ – Time
‘Easily the most original thing Frayn has done . . . written with elegant simplicity.’ – New Statesman
‘An ingenious fable . . . at times poetically imaginative.’ – Sunday Times
‘An intriguing fantasy.’ – Sunday Telegraph
‘Easily the most original thing Frayn has done . . . written with elegant simplicity.’ – New Statesman
‘An ingenious fable . . . at times poetically imaginative.’ – Sunday Times
‘An intriguing fantasy.’ – Sunday Telegraph
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BOOK DETAILS
ISBN: 194114795X ISBN-13: 978-1941147955 $16.99 US, 136 pp. Trade paper Published 2015 |
Due to copyright restrictions, this title is only available to U.S. customers.
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AUTHOR BIOGRAPHY
Michael Frayn was born in London in 1933 and began his career as a journalist on the Guardian and the Observer. One of the few English writers to achieve success as both novelist and playwright, his three most recent novels, Headlong, Spies, and Skios, were all nominated for the Booker Prize, while Noises Off (first produced in New York in 1983, revived in 2001, and due to be revived again in 2015) was recently voted Britain’s second favourite play, and Copenhagen won the Tony Award for Best Play. His first five novels, all long recognized as classics in Great Britain, are also published by Valancourt Books.