description: Collectors' items, these exclusive author-signed box sets, available for only a short period, include The Wasp Factory , Canal Dreams , Espedair Street , The Bridge and Walking on Glass The Wasp Factory Iain Banks' The Wasp Factory is one of the most infamous of contemporary Scottish novels. The narrator, Frank Cauldhame, is a weird teenager who lives on a tiny island connected to mainland Scotland by a bridge. He maintains grisly sacrifice poles to serve as his early warning system and deterrent against anyone who might invade his territory. Few novelists have ever burst onto the literary scene with as much controversy as Iain Banks did in 1984. The Wasp Factory was reviled by many reviewers on account of its violence and sadism, but applauded by others as a new and Scottish voice--that is, a departure from the English literary tradition. The controversy is a bit puzzling in retrospect, because there is little to object to in this novel, if you're familiar with genre horror. The Wasp Factory is distinguished by an authentically felt and deftly written first-person style, delicious dark humour, a sense of the surreal, and a serious examination of the psyche of a childhood psychopath. Most readers will find that they sympathise with and even like Frank, despite his three murders (each of which is hilarious in an Edward Gorey fashion). It's a classic of contemporary horror. -- Fiona Webster, Amazon.com
language: English
title: Wasp Factory/Canal Dreams/Espedair Street/The Bridge/Walking on Glass
titlecomplete: Wasp Factory/Canal Dreams/Espedair Street/The Bridge/Walking on Glass
genres: Fiction
ratings_count: 101
publisher: Little, Brown