You Bright and Risen Angels

It is yet another indication of the perniciousness of mass culture that while a pop-surrealist epic like Pynchon's  Gravity's Rainbow  should find it's rightful place as an underground crypto-masterpiece and post-modernist seminal text, this equally bizarre and delightful yarn should sink from literary history like the proverbial lead boot. The premise that 20th Century history is the outward manifestation of the secret war between Mr White and the Blue Globes seems eminently plausible. It may not be exactly what's going on but it's gotta be something like whatever is going on. The other major premise, that a substantial percentage of the people one meets are actually insects dressed in very convincing people suits is not just plausible but downright true, having spent much of my own life laboring to keep my more insectile characteristics screened from public view. Vollmann's perception of the true nature of the great setup is spot on. While human propaganda would assure us that it is the insect people who are depraved and bent on the destruction of 'proper' humans, it is actuallly the humans who are the real problem, ruthlessly driven as they are to the final solution to the insect problem. Vollmann's hilariously sinister critique delivers deeply satisfying explanations of the violent reality of which we are all flawed co-constructors. A truly profound surrealist parable. Gravity's Rainbow

I am a huge fan of Vollman. This is his first novel, with all the complexities and twirling I’ve come to expect. He is omnivorous, with a seemingly thorough command of every topic he approaches. He is simply fun to read.