Continent

In this award-winning collection, the world is "e;skewed just enough . . . to make us see our own world more clearly. . . . brilliant, provocative and delightful."e; (TheNew York Times Book Review). Jim Crace's internationally acclaimed first book explores the tribes and communities, conflicts and superstitions, flora and fauna of a wholly spellbinding place: an imaginary seventh continent. In these seven short stories, Crace travels a strange and wonderful landscape: "e;Talking Skull"e; takes the reader to a tiny agricultural village renowned for the sexually-charged, mystical milk of its calves; "e;Electricity"e; introduces a remote flatland region where a monumental ceiling fan changes an entire town's attitude toward modernization. From the acacia scrub of the flatlands to a city bazaar jammed with vegetable stalls, tourists, and beggars, Crace's invented world is as fabulous as it is eerily familiar. "e;Crace has invented epigraphs, cities, landscapes, even an entire landmass. The idea, of course, is the first faith of fiction: What matters most is what we hold in our minds."e; Los Angeles Times"e;Hard and actual in observation, clearly and richly imagined, remarkably original."e; The Guardian"e;This is stunningly powerful, visionary writing."e; Publishers Weekly