num_pages: 243
description: Ben Marcus achieved cult status and gained the admiration of his peers with his first book, The Age of Wire and String. With Notable American Women he goes well beyond that first achievement to create something radically wonderful, a novel set in a world so fully imagined that it creates its own reality.On a farm in Ohio, American women led by Jane Dark practice all means of behavior modification in an attempt to attain complete stillness and silence. Witnessing (and subjected to) their cultish actions is one Ben Marcus, whose father, Michael Marcus, may be buried in the back yard, and whose mother, Jane Marcus, enthusiastically condones the use of her son for (generally unsuccessful) breeding purposes, among other things. Inventing his own uses for language, the author Ben Marcus has written a harrowing, hilarious, strangely moving, altogether engrossing work of fiction that will be read and argued over for years to come.
language: English
title: Notable American Women
titlecomplete: Notable American Women
genres: American, Magical Realism, Collections, Short Stories, Novels, Literature, Contemporary, Literary Fiction, Fiction, Womens
ratings_count: 1067
awards: awardedAt: 1041408000000
name: New York Public Library Young Lions Fiction Award
publisher: Vintage