|
 |
PRESS“A bold, dark, difficult vision, Topiary might be best described as Thomas Pynchon doing George Orwell while channeling Diane Ackerman.” “Not all writers are artists, but with Topiary Adam Engel shows himself to be a true artist. He compellingly plays with form, meaning, the sounds and shapes of words, story, character, politics, morals, ethics, philosophy. This book is a large leap forward not only for philosophy but for the literary arts. Thank you Adam Engel.” Derrick Jensen, author of A LANGUAGE OLDER THAN WORDS, THE CULTURE OF MAKE BELIEVE, and ENDGAME “Topiary is Adam Engel’s story. The myth of Adam Engel, aka Plantman, the Planetman, nurturing words. Valentine, author of THE PHOENIX PROGRAM, and THE STRENGTH OF THE WOLF: THE SECRET HISTORY OF AMERICA'S WAR ON DRUGS “Topiary is amongst the the boldest, most ambitious fiction since the irrecovable loss of Acker, Burroughs and Gaddis in the late 90s. Engel cuts with Kafka's knife -- and he cuts deep. TOPIARY ranks, in this reviewer's opinion, with Clifford's CASTLING, and Chapman's STET, as one of the great works of the "new" century. Like Kafka's AMERIKA, or DeLillo's AMERICANA, Engel takes the reader on a hilarious, mesmerizing journey in which every sentence either stings or soothes. Plantman is an Everyman of our contemporary era, and Topiary is a major work.” Ian Kerner, author of SHE COMES FIRST: THE THINKING MAN'S GUIDE TO PLEASURING A WOMAN “Topiary is a contemporary classic work that defies comparison across the years. Who we are, what we are, where we are, NOW---and where we might go. Adam Engel is a pilot with magic. And SEEing is only the start of the grand journey.” Randall Clifford, author of CASTLING and TIMING “Engel's inimitable capacity to penetrate the fog of false consciousness and shatter the holographic simulacrum most Americans perceive to be reality is on full display in Topiary. Jason S. Miller “Topiary is brilliant, mesmerizing, transportive, transformative, mind-shifting. It's a real achievement. I LOVED it. If there is justice in the literary world, Engel will be recognized as one of the great authors of his generation. Read it and spread the word.” David Grae, co-founder of Gotham Writers' Workshop “Topiary is the altering by manipulation and trimming of plant life to suit a particular purpose. In Adam Engel's tour du force of that name, those fashioning techniques have been successfully applied to an acquiescent citizenry. M. Parker, author of BIG PHIL'S KID and A GARDEN OF STONES “Plantman, of his nature, in daily life and work encounters “trials” which are the collisions of a death-binge culture with creatures born alive into manufactured terms. Each character and situation is condensed saga, a handful of seeds. Plantman’s terrain compacts the modern techno-dilemma in its recurrent mythic guise: The University of Vigor & Ambition, The Hall of Hoaxes with its resident Giant Hoax, The Indian Museum, The Museum of Women. Within the city’s cynical parody of “culture” real agony occurs: the Possessed Man (a brilliant update of Thoreau’s Desperate Multitude) is “neither good nor bad. He is terrified, alone – even among friends and family. Though he works to support his family he is not sure, exactly, what he does. According to his Job Description he ‘Administrates Creative Product Strategies.’” Lucky to have a job, doomed to Kafka’s prediction. Plantman carries water, does what he can to nourish the material roots & blooms of vegetal lifeforms in the humanoid city. This is not a far-fetched Future but Now, of course. The human heart mind spirit isolated in its simulacra cubicle from the primal juices of planetary life is Wilting unto Death, and we all feel it.” Barbara Mor , author of THE GREAT COSMIC MOTHER: REDISCOVERING THE RELIGION OF THE EARTH <top>
|
