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Loading... Combat Cameraby Andrew Somerset
Work InformationCombat Camera by Andrew Somerset
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The reader follows as his mechanical eye scans a bleak, desolate Toronto, paying more attention to the lighting on people’s faces, their potential to become still images, than anything else ... a question courses through the body of this violent, funny, thought-provoking novel: Do photographs dehumanize us? Somerset is a confident, gifted writer ... able to seamlessly switch between dialogue and Zane's internal monologue as he darts between grim horror and grim comedy. Though constantly sought by avid readers, it seldom happens: complete immersion into a novel, getting lost in the pages. It’s the benchmark for good writing. And after a long dry spell of books which, though good, didn’t seduce me into complete suspension of disbelief, I picked up Combat Camera by A.J. Somerset. His beautifully written novel, full of dark humour and utterly compelling characters, took me to that place most readers long for. A book about a wounded alcoholic and a battered porn star might sound like a grim read, and in some ways that is just what Combat Camera is. Full of violence, both domestic and international, the story is gritty and raw. But Somerset draws connections between disparate places to uncover universal truths about our reactions to violence … Ultimately, Zane is a rambling, tragic, and surprisingly funny figure, and his tragic circumstances take on a strange kind of beauty. Awards
You'd like to believe you're in some tale of sin and redemption. I guess we all like to think we're walking through some grand, redemptive story. Well, we're all going to end up disappointed. Disappointment is one of the two fates that we all must eventually meet. When former Pulitzer Prize-winning combat photographer Lucas Zane washes up drunk, broken, and hallucinatory after covering the worst global conflagrations of the past two decades, he takes a job with a low-budget pornographic impresario, getting accidentally involved with one of his actresses, Melissa. After a horrific assault, Zane hatches a plan to rescue Melissa, his career, and, he hopes, himself.Combat Camera is a restless, tragic, blackly funny, hypnotic novel. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)813.6Literature English (North America) American fiction 21st CenturyLC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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