Released 8/22/11
NOVELIST’S ‘LUMINARIUM’ LIGHTING UP THE LITERARY ATMOSPHERE
CONTACT: Dusty Rhodes, Arts and Humanities Editor 217-333-0568; [email protected]
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — “Luminarium” – a novel by University of Illinois creative
writing professor Alex Shakar – already is garnering glowing reviews. It will be released
Tuesday (Aug. 23).
Vogue called the novel “wonderfully corrosive satire” and included
“Luminarium” among a mere half-dozen late-summer recommended reads. The
Chicago Tribune said the book “fizzes with ideas, social concerns, and metaphoric
splendor” and called it “encompassing, caring, provocative, and funny.” Publisher’s
Weekly, in a starred review, called Shakar’s prose “sharp and hilarious,” concluding
that “this radiant work leads you from the unreal to the real so convincingly that you
begin to let go of the distinction.”
Published by Soho Press, the novel follows high-tech entrepreneur Fred, whose
identical twin and erstwhile co-CEO lies comatose in a research hospital. Fred’s quest for
spiritual comfort takes him from an experimental treatment in the neural studies
department at New York University to an Orlando military/entertainment complex on a
journey that the Tribune said “astutely dramatizes moral and spiritual dilemmas
catalyzed by the frenetic
post-9/11 cyber age.”
(MORE – Novel)
Novel — 2
“Luminarium” is Shakar’s second novel. His first, “The Savage Girl,” was a 2002
New York Times Notable Book and inspired a Chicago Tribune critic to compare Shakar
to George Orwell, Aldous Huxley and Tom Wolfe.
A launch party for the book is scheduled for 6 p.m. Tuesday at Lush, 1257 S.
Halsted St., in Chicago.
-dr-
http://alexshakar.com/bio
http://www.vogue.com/culture/article/books-in-the-mood-for-love/
http://www.publishersweekly.com/978-1-56947-975-9
http://www.chicagotribune.com/entertainment/books/sc-ent-0817-booksluminarium-20110809,0,7646971.story
http://www.lushwineandspirits.com/events