Did you ever get the feeling you've NEVER been here before? Once upon a time in Los Angeles, an addled psychiatrist named Hector Glasco was vainly trying to treat a jaded celebrity named Hilary, who suffered from a chronic and perhaps potentially fatal case of déjà vu-that condition, of course, in which one has the weirdest feeling that one has been here before. The cure, it seemed, was to instill a sense of jamais vu, a mysterious feeling that one has never been here before-not in this world, this life, or the most familiar circumstances. This tale of Hector's quest includes a bizarre secret society, a cut-rate Venice Beach shaman, a demented deconstructionist scholar, and the elderly ladies of The Elmblight, Ohio, Book Club and Sewing Circle, who in the course of reading The Jamais Vu Papers manage to become a part of the story, threatening to disrupt the fabric of reality. Real-life people who agreed to take part in the story include Daniel C. Dennett, Tom Robbins, Fred Alan Wolf, Paul Krassner, Fred Chappell, John Brockman, María De Céspedes, Timothy Leary, and Jamake Highwater. The storytelling style has been described as "metafiction," and (by Publishers Weekly) as "Seminally integrating illustrations and text." First published by Harmony Books/Crown in 1991, The Jamais Vu Papers has built a solid following over the years. Eventually, the shortage of recirculating copies drove prices so high that it was clearly time for a new edition. So here again is The Jamais Vu Papers--the entire original book plus a bonus tale and some words about the origins of the whole idea.
--This text refers to an alternate
Paperback
edition.
| |||||||||||||||
Book Description
Editorial Reviews
From Publishers Weekly
In this fresh, experimental novel, a psychotherapist, Hector Glasco, attempts to cure Hilary, a jaded movie queen, of her "perpetual sense of deja vu." Following the advice of a colleague who believes "direct encounter with a common metaphor" can create "a state of jamais vu," Glasco slips Hilary a drug, "the chemical equivalent of a metaphor." With a new outlook on life, Hilary vanishes from Glasco's office. The terrified doctor searches in poetry books for metaphoric clues to Hilary's disappearance and is catapulted into an extra-dimensional world where anything one fantasizes about becomes real--travels in time and space, dreams. Cleverly plotted and seminally integrating illustrations and text, this story introduces intriguing characters such as Llixgrijb, who symbolizes a creative force in the universe, and raises challenging questions about reality and fantasy and art. Is this book "the creation of an insidious new art form?" the authors ask. "And what on earth is this new art form to be called? . . . Hoax verite, perhaps?" The authors are a husband-and-wife team whose work has appeared in the Utne Reader and The Reality Club 2.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information, Inc.
From the Author
The Jamais Vu Papers was our first novel--and our most unabashedly experimental one, which alternately infuriated and delighted its readers. "Seminally integrating illustrations and text," as Publishers Weekly put it in a glowing review. It has been out of print for years, and now the supply of recirculating old copies has apparently run low. So readers will be glad to know that a new edition of The Jamais Vu Papers will be available on Amazon about October 1, 2010!
--Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin
--Wim Coleman and Pat Perrin
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
More About the Authors
Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.
Customer Reviews
|
Share your thoughts with other customers:
|
||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Adventure of the Known and Unknown Universe,
By Anthony Pearson (Presbyterian College) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Jamais Vu Papers (Paperback)
This is one of my favorite books. It keeps twisting and turning into things that are unconventional and amazing. I can happily say that there is no other book like the Jamais Vu Papers. It answers life's questions with hilarious and introspective thought. A great book to sit around and talk about with others.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Odd, yet fantastical,
By
This review is from: The Jamais Vu Papers (Paperback)
I picked this book up on a whim at my local dollar store. The cover caught my eye and the synopsis on the back sounded interesting enough . . . I just couldn't put this book down! Every time I thought I had the story figured out, something else would happen. If you're looking for a nice relaxing read . . .this is definitely not the story for you. If you enjoy fantastical portrayals of human existence, and like plot twists, find this book A.S.A.P! Oh, and, I particularly enjoyed the entire chapter written in pig latin.
2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
1.0 out of 5 stars
This book's potential was wasted,
By Joe M. (Wisconsin USA) - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: The Jamais Vu Papers (Paperback)
This books tells the story of a psychiatrist traveling through the Waking world and the Dream world (which is just as real as the Waking world). The stage was set for a very interesting story. However, the book lacked direction, plot, and climax. The book's potential was wasted. I do not recommend it.
Share your thoughts with other customers: Create your own review
|
|
Suggested Tags from Similar Products(What's this?)Be the first one to add a relevant tag (keyword that's strongly related to this product).
|
Sell a Digital Version of This Book in the Kindle Store
If you are a publisher or author and hold the digital rights to a book, you can sell a digital version of it in our Kindle Store.
Learn more
