El Malabarista, pianist and juggler for a troupe of sexual performance artists, is found dead in the dusty wilderness, his fingers crushed. Beginning like a murder mystery, The Blond Box then defies all the usual expectations of a murder mystery plot, by juxtaposing "real" events in two different decades with a draft version of a hack sci-fi novella. This mixed narrative serves as a meta-fictional commentary on the efforts of a retired sex-theater artist, a hairstylist/pulp writer, a doctoral student, and a host of other characters to, not only solve the murder, but uncover its motivation, which seems to be linked to El Malabarista's knowledge of the whereabouts of a certain boxed treasure. By turns lyrical and scatological, puerile and cerebral, The Blond Box is at once a daring formal experiment and a good yarn.
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Editorial Reviews
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"The Blond Box, like all of Toby Olson's novels, proposes a world whose ordinary elements are gradually seen to be messengers of the uncanny and mysterious. By the subtlest of means, we are led to recognize the strangeness that informs both art and life. It is, in all respects, a wondrous book by a superb writer." --Gilbert Sorrentino, author of Splendide-Hotel
"Of all the writers of his postmod generation, Toby Olson is the most forgiving. Even when writing of the most mundane acts--performing in a backwoods porn show, for example, or inaugurating an outhouse--he grants all his characters the full wonder and mystery of their lives, and strokes language as a lover might the flesh of his beloved. The Blond Box, like the most memorable of his work, skirts borders--geographical, artistic, metaphysical--and explores the mysteries found there, especially the unfathomable mysteries of art. Toby Olson is one of America's most important novelists, and The Blond Box is perhaps his best book ever. A rich compelling read." --Robert Coover, author of The Adventures of Lucky Pierre
About the Author
Toby Olson, winner of the PEN/Faulkner Award for his novel Seaview (New Directions, 1982), has published eight works of fiction. He lives with his wife, Miriam, in Philadelphia, where he recently retired from Temple University, and in North Truro on Cape Cod. Olson has most recently been collaborating with composer Paul Epstein on chamber operas. He has published fiction, essays, and reviews in more than 200 national magazines and newspapers. His essay on Marcel Duchamp appeared in FICTION INTERNATIONAL in 1999.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
intriguing and different,
By "cattiec3" (Durham, NC United States) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Blond Box (Paperback)
We were required to read this for my creative writing class because Toby Olson came to visit the class. The book itself is very creative with three parallel times. There are also parts of a draft of a science fiction novel througout the book that correlate with the real events of the story. The language and the writing is excellent. The book does not lose your interest. Be prepared for an almost flippant attitude towards sexuality, it may be inserted graphically at any point. Personally, this did not hamper my enjoyment of the book, I have no problems with sexuality in literature, but some of my classmates were taken aback. The book's inspiration, Marcel Duchamp and his art, is interesting. Olson explained many connections to us and said that he had visited the art museum in Philadelpha that has Duchamp's collections and he started becoming engrossed by the man and his art, visiting multiple times and researching extensively. He has a very scholarly interest in the man. Olson as a person is very funny and witty. You will not forget his book if you pick it up, just be prepared for an entertaining and sometimes strange read.
4.0 out of 5 stars
Putting Art in Context,
This review is from: The Blond Box (Paperback)
The story takes place in three different times... 1949, 1969, and a fictional 2069, where characters in a sci-fi book being written in 1969 follow a parallel storyline to the plot unfolding in the "real world." Beyond this interesting and unusual structure, the book introduces us to an odd grouping of characters who are engaging and genuine, wracked as they are with various medical problems.
Ultimately _The Blond Box_ is about the art of Marcel Duchamp, and the best function of this odd narrative is providing a thoughtful, hypothetical context for his strange art. It's like a different way to write about an installation, instead of a scholarly article, instead of a critical review, a novel that positions the art in the center of a system that explicates it in the unusual way it demands.
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