Flamingoes in Orbit (1990)
Philip Ridley
Book Description
A teenager stares at his reflection and sees the Milky Way. A motorbike prowls and growls like a wild animal. A whale sings a song to end loneliness.
Philip Ridley’s collection of short stories – like his two adult novels, Crocodilia and In the Eyes of Mr Fury – became an instant cult classic when first published in 1990. Magical, poetic, heartbreaking and humorous, the sequence explores childhood, family life, romantic love in all its aspects – lost, unrequited, obsessional – and does so with a haunting mixture of both the barbaric and the beautiful that has become Ridley’s trademark. In particular, these tales deal with the experience of growing up gay in a world still bristling with prejudice, and they sing and howl with the need for equality and freedom.
This edition includes two new stories, “Alien Heart” and “Wonderful Insect”, and finally completes a seminal and compelling collection first begun over thirty years ago.
Philip Ridley
Book Description
A teenager stares at his reflection and sees the Milky Way. A motorbike prowls and growls like a wild animal. A whale sings a song to end loneliness.
Philip Ridley’s collection of short stories – like his two adult novels, Crocodilia and In the Eyes of Mr Fury – became an instant cult classic when first published in 1990. Magical, poetic, heartbreaking and humorous, the sequence explores childhood, family life, romantic love in all its aspects – lost, unrequited, obsessional – and does so with a haunting mixture of both the barbaric and the beautiful that has become Ridley’s trademark. In particular, these tales deal with the experience of growing up gay in a world still bristling with prejudice, and they sing and howl with the need for equality and freedom.
This edition includes two new stories, “Alien Heart” and “Wonderful Insect”, and finally completes a seminal and compelling collection first begun over thirty years ago.
reviews
‘Ridley sets off a deliberate quiet and matter-of-fact prose against touches of glowing passion ...The stories achieve a startling variety. The power of the book as a whole, however, derives from the way in which these different voices blend in a single cry of frustration and regret.’ – Times Literary Supplement.
‘Menace lurks in the shady corners of family life ... Chilling.’ – Time Out
‘Ridley is a visionary.’ – Rolling Stone
‘Menace lurks in the shady corners of family life ... Chilling.’ – Time Out
‘Ridley is a visionary.’ – Rolling Stone
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BOOK DETAILS
ISBN: 1948405040 ISBN-13: 978-1948405041 $29.99 US, pp. Hardcover Published 2018 BOOK DETAILS ISBN: 1948405059 ISBN-13: 978-1948405058 $17.99 US, pp. Trade paper Published 2018 |
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ALSO AVAILABLE THROUGH ONLINE RETAILERS
Author biography:
Philip Ridley was born in the East End of London. He studied painting at St Martin’s School of Art. As well as three books for adults—and the highly acclaimed screenplay for the feature film The Krays (winner of the Evening Standard Best Film of the Year Award)—he has written many adult stage plays: the seminal The Pitchfork Disney, the multi-award-winning The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Ghost from a Perfect Place, Vincent River, Mercury Fur, Leaves of Glass, Piranha Heights, Tender Napalm (nominated for the London Fringe Best Play Award), Shivered (nominated for the Off-West End Best New Play Award), Dark Vanilla Jungle (winner of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award), Radiant Vermin, Tonight With Donny Stixx and Karagula, plus several plays for young people: Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece (named as one of the 50 Best Works about Cultural Diversity by the National Centre for Children’s Books), Sparkleshark and Brokenville. He has also written books for children, including Scribbleboy (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal), Kasper in the Glitter (nominated for the Whitbread Prize), and Krindlekrax. He has also directed three feature films from his own screenplays: The Reflecting Skin (winner of eleven international awards, including the prestigious Georges Sadoul Prize), The Passion of Darkly Noon (winner of the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film Festival) and Heartless (winner of the Silver Mélièrs Award for Best Fantasy Film). In 2010 Philip, along with song-writing collaborator Nick Bicat, formed the music group Dreamskin Cradle and their first album, Songs from Grimm, is available on iTunes, Amazon and all major download sites. Philip is also a performance artist in his own right, and his highly-charged readings of his ongoing poetry sequence Lovesongs for Extinct Creatures (first embarked on when he was a student) have proved increasingly popular in recent years.
Philip Ridley was born in the East End of London. He studied painting at St Martin’s School of Art. As well as three books for adults—and the highly acclaimed screenplay for the feature film The Krays (winner of the Evening Standard Best Film of the Year Award)—he has written many adult stage plays: the seminal The Pitchfork Disney, the multi-award-winning The Fastest Clock in the Universe, Ghost from a Perfect Place, Vincent River, Mercury Fur, Leaves of Glass, Piranha Heights, Tender Napalm (nominated for the London Fringe Best Play Award), Shivered (nominated for the Off-West End Best New Play Award), Dark Vanilla Jungle (winner of an Edinburgh Festival Fringe First Award), Radiant Vermin, Tonight With Donny Stixx and Karagula, plus several plays for young people: Karamazoo, Fairytaleheart, Moonfleece (named as one of the 50 Best Works about Cultural Diversity by the National Centre for Children’s Books), Sparkleshark and Brokenville. He has also written books for children, including Scribbleboy (shortlisted for the Carnegie Medal), Kasper in the Glitter (nominated for the Whitbread Prize), and Krindlekrax. He has also directed three feature films from his own screenplays: The Reflecting Skin (winner of eleven international awards, including the prestigious Georges Sadoul Prize), The Passion of Darkly Noon (winner of the Best Director Prize at the Porto Film Festival) and Heartless (winner of the Silver Mélièrs Award for Best Fantasy Film). In 2010 Philip, along with song-writing collaborator Nick Bicat, formed the music group Dreamskin Cradle and their first album, Songs from Grimm, is available on iTunes, Amazon and all major download sites. Philip is also a performance artist in his own right, and his highly-charged readings of his ongoing poetry sequence Lovesongs for Extinct Creatures (first embarked on when he was a student) have proved increasingly popular in recent years.