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by Marc Estrin
Marc Estrin follows another of his strange protagonists through a world troubled by what it knows and by how it applies that knowledge.
From the first page, we are plunged into a global riot of paranoia, joy, and fear. But something is sadly familiar here, perhaps because we have been taught to anticipate a world in which people suddenly fly off the planet. It might be The Rapture. Or it might be some violation of the force of gravity. Whatever it is, it's spreading madness, religious hysteria, and some truly formidable government powers.
The voice of these Lamentations is a sixty-something, club-footed scientist named Julius Marantz, an obsessive researcher who suffers from both forbidden knowledge and and insistent conscience. As his spirit and his heart begin to fail, Julius realizes what is lost to him: a childhood of possibility, the consolation of belief, and the undying optimism of a father who taught him the principles of physics on the roller coaster and the parachute jump.
"Scattered throughout this fourth novel are amusements, moving laments and inventive imaginings, but the narrative flow remains polarized." - Publishers Weekly.
"Many readers will need to take a second look at this book to feel that they have any kind of real grasp of what's going on, but it's likely Estrin is the only who truly does." - Library Journal.
This information about The Lamentations of Julius Marantz was first featured
in "The BookBrowse Review" - BookBrowse's membership magazine, and in our weekly "Publishing This Week" newsletter. Publication information is for the USA, and (unless stated otherwise) represents the first print edition. The reviews are necessarily limited to those that were available to us ahead of publication. If you are the publisher or author and feel that they do not properly reflect the range of media opinion now available, send us a message with the mainstream reviews that you would like to see added.
Any "Author Information" displayed below reflects the author's biography at the time this particular book was published.
Marc Estrin is a writer, cellist, and activist living in Burlington, Vermont.
His works include Insect Dreams, The Half Life of Gregor Samsa, The Education of Arnold Hitler, Golem Song, The Lamentations of Julius Marantz, Skulk, The Good Doctor Guillotin, and The Prison Notebooks of Alan Krieger (Terrorist).
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