The Age of Sinatra is the long-awaited sequel to the 1972 sci-fi cult classic Motorman. Part political allegory, part science-fiction dystopia, the world David Ohle creates is disturbing, humorous, and oddly compelling. The novel catches up with the luckless protagonist Moldenke, after the most recent "Forgetting." Moldenke finds himself in possession only of his name and the bare facts of his former life while he cruises on the Titanic through an alternate reality where elective deformation is a fashion trend and grasshoppers are the main course. His travel mates are Ophelia Balls, an artist; Gerald Hilter, a journalist; Agnes Moldenke, his mother and the inventor of edible money; Dr. Burnheart, his old mentor; and a talkative neutrodyne named Hugo Vink. The Age of Sinatra is an entry in the new series Soft Skull ShortLit — Pocket Books for a New World.
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"In The Age of Sinatra, Ohle has seemingly concocted some sort of covert Oulipian recipe regarding the fantastic versus realism. Readers should take note of this insurgent fiction writer, David Ohle, who flays the human condition to singular, hallucinatory effect." - The Village Voice "Delicate and grotesque, tragic and hilarious, precarious but perfectly balanced...The Age of Sinatra, a litany of symptoms, is less like an ordinary novel than it is like a patient history. But those might be the stories we feel most keenly of all." - Shelley Jackson "Ohle continues to construct an intoxicatingly vivid and demented world that is both reflective and revolutionary." - LA Weekly"
About the Author
David Ohle's first novel, Motorman, was published by Knopf in 1972. His short fiction has appeared in Harper's, Esquire and the Paris Review. A native of New Orleans, Ohle now lives in Lawrence, Kansas, and teaches at the University of Kansas.
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9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Like nothing else,
This review is from: The Age of Sinatra (Soft Skull ShortLit) (Paperback)
Briefly, this book is like nothing else. Completely original, innovative, strange, funny. Disturbing sometimes, yes, but only in the best ways, i.e. if you like dark humor you'll laugh at lot, and if you don't you will at least appreciate the power of the satire. Most likely if you found your way here, you have an idea of what Ohle is about. But a detailed review can now be found online by doing a search with the words "Ohle" and "Bookforum." For anyone interested in the avant-garde, experimentalism, post-post-modernism, or whatever it's called these days, this is truly the literature of the future, replete with a profound concern for the present and past. Don't miss the boat, chief.
1 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
More For Your Money,
This review is from: The Age of Sinatra (Soft Skull ShortLit) (Paperback)
Forking over hard earned bucks? Don't waste effort elsewhere. You get solid value reading David Ohle.
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Inside This Book
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First Sentence:
During the Age of Sinatra, just prior to the Forgetting of'64, an excavation near New Oleo unearthed a casket that, when opened, held a long-haired corpse encased in a wicker like cage of overgrown fingernails. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sucker weed, edible money, green gland, edible paper, death egg Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Radio Ratt, Bum Bay, New Oleo, Dilly Plaza, Michael Ratt, Ophelia Balls, French Sewer, Ice Palace, Agnes Moldenke, President Kenny Day, President Ratt, Del Piombo, Holly Island, Indian Apple, Permanganate Island, Arden Boulevard, Fertile Crescent, Gerald Hilter, Little Angelina, Neutrodyne Hall, Pisstown Chaos, Ratt's Manifesto, Zeus Bologna, Arvey Room, Big Shift New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
During the Age of Sinatra, just prior to the Forgetting of'64, an excavation near New Oleo unearthed a casket that, when opened, held a long-haired corpse encased in a wicker like cage of overgrown fingernails. Read the first page Key Phrases - Statistically Improbable Phrases (SIPs): (learn more)
sucker weed, edible money, green gland, edible paper, death egg Key Phrases - Capitalized Phrases (CAPs): (learn more)
Radio Ratt, Bum Bay, New Oleo, Dilly Plaza, Michael Ratt, Ophelia Balls, French Sewer, Ice Palace, Agnes Moldenke, President Kenny Day, President Ratt, Del Piombo, Holly Island, Indian Apple, Permanganate Island, Arden Boulevard, Fertile Crescent, Gerald Hilter, Little Angelina, Neutrodyne Hall, Pisstown Chaos, Ratt's Manifesto, Zeus Bologna, Arvey Room, Big Shift New!
Concordance | Text Stats Browse Sample Pages:
Front Cover | First Pages | Back Cover | Surprise Me!
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