Description

She is a shimmering, melancholy angel, flown from Paradise to save him from the suburbs of hell. He an accountant, dreaming of a white Christmas, a little garden and someone to love. She attempts to fly him away from his habits and fears, while he holds on tight to all he knows.

Man Booker Prize shortlisted Deborah Levy whips up a storm of romance and slapstick, of heavenly and earthly delights, in this dystopian philosophical poem about individual freedom and the search for the good life.

Publisher Review

'I loved this effervescent dialogue between she and he, angel and accountant, wild desire and the (ever more desirable) quotidian. It's Deborah Levy at her wise, witty and playful best. Read it and be seduced away from (or back into) the suburbs of hell.' Lisa Appignanesi, author of All About Love -------- 'Levy just gets it entirely - the whole business of drab and yet compelling routine, and the fear of the inestimable, the longing nonetheless, the surrender each day to the ordinary, dispersing the dream, only to dream it again. An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell encapsulates all of this, redeems the crumpled weary mortal, sends him into a wild realm of uncertainty, satirises him, lavishes him with affection. A crazily beautiful, astonishing, original work of art.' Joanna Kavenna, author of Come to the Edge -------- "Choppy and sparky, this sharply drawn dialogue plays out like an otherworldly soap opera. Levy's having fun and so will the reader." We Love This Book --------- 'Landing back in the UK, this autumn I'm looking forward to Deborah Levy's An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell.' Joanna Walsh, 3am Magazine ------ 'Levy makes something singular of this typical love-stuff...like an indelible pop song, Levy's text chooses all the right, simple words with an uncanny melody - Discourse wastes no time doing anything but shaking you up.' Bookslut ------- 'It will delight readers.' Library Journal------'With one foot in prose, but wings pulling free into air, Deborah Levy's An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell is a prose-poem about the line between prose and poetry.' Joanna Walsh, for Shakespeare and Company - Books of the Year 2014------