Bøger af Katherine Dunn

A National Book Award Finalist: This 'wonderfully descriptive' novel from an author with a 'tremendous imagination' tells the unforgettable story of the Binewskis, a carny family whose mater- and paterfamilias have bred their own exhibit of human oddities. (The New York Times Book Review)The Binewskis arex a circus-geek family whose matriarch and patriarch have bred their own exhibit of human oddities (with the help of amphetamine, arsenic, and radioisotopes). Their offspring include Arturo the Aquaboy, who has flippers for limbs and a megalomaniac ambition worthy of Genghis Khan, Iphy and Elly, the lissome Siamese twins, albino hunchback Oly, and the outwardly normal Chick, whose mysterious gifts make him the family's most precious - and dangerous - asset. As the Binewskis take their act across the backwaters of the US, inspiring fanatical devotion and murderous revulsion; as its members conduct their own Machiavellian version of sibling rivalry, Geek Love throws its sulfurous light on our notions of the freakish and the normal, the beautiful and the ugly, the holy and the obscene. Family values will never be the same.Praise for Geek Love'If Flannery O'Connor had consumed vast quantities of LSD, she might have written like this' Literary Review 'The most romantic novel about love and family I have read. It made me ashamed to be so utterly normal' Terry Gilliam 'I felt electrocuted when I read that first page with Crystal Lil and her freak brood. I stood there in the bookstore and my jaw came unhinged. No book I've read, before or since, has given me that specific jolt' Karen Russell, author of Swamplandia

Based on a scrapbook collected by a homicide detective with the LAPD from the 1930s to the 1950s, this work recalls film noir-era crimes such as the "Black Dahlia Mystery" and the "Lipstick Murder", as well as on-site forensic photos, mug shots, and previously unreleased photos from such sensational cases as the Lindbergh baby kidnapping and the Valentine's Day massacre.

A previously unpublished novel of the reflections of a deeply scarred and reclusive woman, from the cult icon Katherine Dunn, the author of Geek Love.Sally Gunnar has withdrawn from the world. She spends her days alone at home, reading drugstore mysteries, polishing the doorknobs, waxing the floors. Her only companions are a vase of goldfish, a garden toad, and the door-to-door salesman who sells her cleaning supplies once a month. She broods over her deepest regrets: her blighted romances with self-important men, her lifelong struggle to feel at home in her own body, and her wayward early twenties, when she was a fish out of water among a group of eccentric, privileged young people at a liberal arts college. There was Sam, an unabashed collector of other people's stories; Carlotta, a troubled free spirit; and Rennel, a self-obsessed philosophy student. Self-deprecating and sardonic, Sally recounts their misadventures, up to the tragedy that tore them apart.Colorful, crass, and profound, Toad is Katherine Dunn's ode to her time as a student at Reed College in the late 1960s. It is filled with the same mordant observations about the darkest aspects of human nature that made Geek Love a cult classic and Dunn a misfit hero. Daring and bizarre, Toad demonstrates her genius for black humor and her ecstatic celebration of the grotesque. Fifty-some years after it was written, Toad is a timely story about the ravages of womanhood and a powerful addition to the canon of feminist fiction.

A previously unpublished novel of the reflections of a deeply scarred and reclusive woman, from the cult icon Katherine Dunn, the author of Geek Love.Sally Gunnar has withdrawn from the world. She spends her days alone at home, reading drugstore mysteries, polishing the doorknobs, waxing the floors. Her only companions are a vase of goldfish, a garden toad, and the door-to-door salesman who sells her cleaning supplies once a month. She broods over her deepest regrets: her blighted romances with self-important men, her lifelong struggle to feel at home in her own body, and her wayward early twenties, when she was a fish out of water among a group of eccentric, privileged young people at a liberal arts college. There was Sam, an unabashed collector of other people's stories; Carlotta, a troubled free spirit; and Rennel, a self-obsessed philosophy student. Self-deprecating and sardonic, Sally recounts their misadventures, up to the tragedy that tore them apart.Colorful, crass, and profound, Toad is Katherine Dunn's ode to her time as a student at Reed College in the late 1960s. It is filled with the same mordant observations about the darkest aspects of human nature that made Geek Love a cult classic and Dunn a misfit hero. Daring and bizarre, Toad demonstrates her genius for black humor and her ecstatic celebration of the grotesque. Fifty-some years after it was written, Toad is a timely story about the ravages of womanhood and a powerful addition to the canon of feminist fiction.

F uck the Fuckity Fuckin' Fucker. Readers of Katherine Dunn won't be surprised that this was her father's favorite sentence, or that, as a young girl, she heard it as a kind of profane poem, a secret song. For many of us, the language of Geek Love carries a similar staying power, born of Dunn's agile use of language and her strange, beautiful diction. And as a true exegete of the expletive, she remained undividedly devoted to obscenity--both as scholar and practitioner.In On Cussing, Dunn sketches a brief history of swear words and creates something of a field guide to their types and usages, from the common threat ("I'll squash you like a shithouse mouse") to the portmanteau intensifier ("Fan-fucking-tastic"). But she also explores their physiology--the physical impact on the reader or listener--and makes an argument for how and when to cuss with maximum effect. Equal parts informative and hilarious, this volume will delight Dunn's legion of fans, but it's also a must-have for anyone looking to more successfully wield their expletives, be it in writing or in everyday speech.

In 1994, artist Alexis Rockman ventured to the dense jungles of Guyana, the site for this fantastic dreamscape of biological life. Rockman's world of nature -- described by the artist as "zoos in outer space" -- is tempered by a penchant for the bizarre and the grotesque, but always based upon intimate observation of the environs. Monumental insects -- ants, mites, bees, and beetles -- vie on Rockman's vibrant canvasses with anteaters, exotic birds, piranhas, and iguanas.

Kathrine Dunns roman ’Freak love’ erintet mindre end genial … - Litteratursiden.dkEn søskendeflok opfostret på amfetamin, arsenik og radioaktive isotoper … Freak Love er en rørende men usædvanlig familiekrønike, og samtidig et kampskrift. En roman, hvor magtbalancen mellem det normale og det unormale for en gangs skyld er vendt på hovedet.Freak Love er fortællingen om familietivoliet Binewskis Fabulon, fortalt af Olympia Binewki, der er eneste overlevende af en meget usæd­vanlig søskendeflok. En familie, der også tæller de siamesiske tvillinger Iphy og Elly, der har to overkroppe men kun én underkrop; familiens yngste, den telekinetiske Fortunato; og ikke mindst Arturo, Aqua Boy, født med finner i stedet for arme og ben – og med et umætteligt magtbegær.OM BOGENDet er en grænseoverskridende og fremragende kultroman, som fortjener en særlig opmærksomhed ... Eksperimenterende, frastødende og mesterlig kultroman, som fortjener en plads på alle folkebibliotekerne. – LektørudtalelseFreak Love er den mest særegne, udtryksfulde, skæve, grinagtige bog, jeg nogensinde har læst.Hver sætning indeholder en overaskelse.– The Paris ReviewEn roman alle vil tale om, en genial,spændingsmættet, hjertebankende tour de force. – Publisher’s Weekly

En søskendeflok opfostret på amfetamin, arsenik og radioaktive isotoper ... Freak Love er en rørende men usædvanlig familiekrønike, og samtidig et kampskrift. En roman, hvor magtbalancen mellem det normale og det unormale for en gangs skyld er vendt på hovedet.Freak Love er fortællingen om familietivoliet Binewskis Fabulon, fortalt af Olympia Binewki, der er eneste overlevende af en meget usæd­vanlig søskendeflok. En familie, der også tæller de siamesiske tvillinger Iphy og Elly, der har to overkroppe men kun én underkrop; familiens yngste, den telekinetiske Fortunato; og ikke mindst Arturo, Aqua Boy, født med finner i stedet for arme og ben - og med et umætteligt magtbegær. Famileværdier bliver aldrig det samme igen ...Freak Love er Katherine Dunns litterære gen­nembrud, og da den udkom i 1989 var den blandt finalisterne til National Book Award. I hjemlandet USA har bogen for længst opnået kultstatus."Romanen er en oplevelse, bizar, brutal og uafrystelig. Enestående, i bogstaveligste forstand." - Standart"Freak Love (er) på én gang en væmmelig, morsom og rørende fortælling om at vende anderledeshed til noget positivt." - Jyllands-Posten"Det er forunderligt og dybt bizart (...) intet mindre end genial ..." -Litteratursiden.dk"Eksperimenterende, frastødende og mesterlig kultroman." - Lektørudtalelse