A Troll's Phantasmagoria
by Ronald J. Willis
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Description
Garn, a troll of the Scandinavian sort, and Lucy, a PhD-holding prostitute and expert in ancient languages, cavort and plot with friends in the New York City of the 1970s, with many of its themes still resonating today. This novel is being published on the 40th anniversary of the death of its author, Ronald J. Willis, founder of the International Fortean Organization. The typewritten manuscript was discovered in the proverbial trunk by the author's family when they were unpacking after a show more move recently. The novel has weird and wacky characters, wild and funny events, and allusions to death, Fortean phenomena, mysticism and various religions and spiritual paths including Gnosticism, Buddhism, Christianity, Jewish folklore, and Paganism. Willis was raised Roman Catholic but by the time he was an adult he had left that Church. Though interested in various spiritualities, he never again affiliated with a church of any denomination. A novel of magical realism, the book's language and writing style range from racy and humorous to poetically profound show lessTags
Member Reviews
A pre-appocolyptic saunter through a 70s New York City, with drugs, sex, art, ragtime, culminating in the a comet and a golem, an anti-anti Christ. I think there might be something of interest to someone familiar with the 70s NYC scene, but I'm not so maybe not. Lots of unpleasant descriptions, and off-handed mentions of sex acts.
A romp but with serious themes. Speculative fiction/magical realism with humor and lots of references to people and things I thought were made up, but when I Googled them most of them are real! A friend suggested that I read this unusual novel and I was at first reluctant, but it really is good! Of other novelists I like, the style of this novel is most like some of Tom Robbins’, especially in Willis’ use of humor, obscure references to people, events and interest various religions, and characters that are both real and apparently imaginary.
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Author Information
1 Work 2 Members
Common Knowledge
- Original title
- A Troll's Phantasmagoria
- Original publication date
- 2015-03
- People/Characters
- Garn (a "troll" from Scandinavia living in NYC); Gloria (Garn's girlfriend); Breitbard (novelist who writes his novels on walls of his home); Magwich (scholar in Brooklyn | has connection to secret society of statisticians)
- First words
- "There was the ache in the soul, in the groin, in the liver, in the canyons of the brain―Rolando, Sylvius―that ache so deep and abiding that nothing, it seemed, would ever expunge it. It was sex, but it was so many other ... (show all)things."
- Quotations
- The troll walked down the street, his mind racing like an engine without a governor.
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 2
- Popularity
- 6,030,592
- Reviews
- 2
- Rating
- (3.75)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 1
- ASINs
- 1
