Rapture [Paperback]

David Sosnowski (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 1997

A brilliant first novel by an award-winning short-story writer. A virus is sralking America, but instead of killing the sufferers, it makes them sprout wings. Thus, a new race is born--as is a new form of racism--Angelism. Written with a truly original and engaging style of magical realism, Rapture is a stunning and original debut.


From the Hardcover edition.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Part romance, part allegory, part satire of modern culture, David Sosnowski's first novel is a wry takeoff on the current New Age angel phenomenon. Zander Wiles, a small Detroit dope dealer, feels a powerful itch on his back and soon discovers he's growing wings. The epidemic of "Angelism" spreads, and in no time Congress has gotten involved, angel support groups crop up, militant factions create the Feathered Nation, and America has a new and otherworldly minority on its hands. Zander, the first celebrity angel, eventually crosses paths with Cassie O'Connor, also a fledgling semi-divinity, and their romance carries the plot to its manic close. Sosnowski has a dry, wicked sense of humor, and his descriptions of angelic movie theaters, bars, and bumper stickers are priceless. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Publishers Weekly

Spinning an inventive, new riff on contemporary angel mania, Sosnowski's first novel is a fanciful zeitgeist satire, positing a world in which ordinary people begin to sprout wings, then become ostracized and victims of hate crimes because of widespread prejudice against their newfound ability to fly. A drug-dealer in a ravaged, post-industrial Detroit, Zander Wiles is the first angel to go public with his new physiology. Ditched by his partner in petty crime, Wiles becomes a novelty on the talk-show circuit, until the number of angels across the nation rises, medical understanding of the phenomenon increases and, due in part to his obnoxious antics, his fans turn against him. Following a suicide attempt he approaches fellow angel Cassie O'Connor, a therapist specializing in the needs of dysfunctional angels. Romance begins to blossom, as O'Connor and Wiles try to come to grips with the emotional weight of angelism and physical problems like molting and Penguinism, a disorienting condition that makes it impossible to fly. Sosnowski's portrait of a separate "race" of non-divine angels as a social phenomenon, and his strange mix of the cutesy and the apocalyptic, is original and sometimes clever. But his prose is often shop-worn and his storyline soon grows so freighted with ideas (while endeavoring at once to be a love story, a fable about racial difference and a study in the ravages of addiction) that the novel suffers a Penguinism all its own.
Copyright 1996 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: Bantam (October 1, 1997)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0553378961
• ISBN-13: 978-0553378962
• Product Dimensions: 8.2 x 5.3 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #691,947 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Worth Reading, September 23, 2002

By 

Freck (Boston) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rapture (Paperback)

The author's style reminded me of no-one so much as the late, lamented Philip K. Dick. It's dark, it's satirical, it's ever so slightly bitter, and it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

It's not the prostelytizing rag the title might imply -- thank Bob for that. This is modern sci-fi at its best; the kind with unreal situations, but very real characters. If there _were_ a disease that made people sprout wings, this is how society would react. And no, it's not always pretty.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great!, June 16, 2010

By 

ChaCha "ChaCha" (TX) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Rapture (Paperback)

Seriously - Snosnowski doesn't make a mistake. I read this after I read Vamped: A Novel, cautiously hopeful that it was 1/2 as good - and it was JUST as good. The chances you won't like this book are slim to none. Clever, fascinating, fast-paced and fatly fleshed out. My only problem is that you have to wait so long for the good writers to put out something new, while the bad ones can churn out new stuff every couple of months. Celebrate excellence! Buy this book AND Vamped: A Novel!
(And Amazon - put this on Kindle, please - my copy is worn out from so many readers!)

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Sweet, they're NOT, January 10, 2010

By 

BadlandsBookCzars - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Rapture (Paperback)

I read David Sosnowski's novel VAMPIRE before I read this, his first book. I liked it so well, that I looked for and purchased this one also.
It is not a story for anyone who is looking for sweet, heavenly beings. But if you want a good story, a human story, about people struggling in our world with being different - way different - this is for you. Funny, irreverant, and thoroughly enjoyable.
I can only hope that he will be writing more stories - and soon!