First published 1989
Six individuals gather across three theatrical encounters and one extended narrative, each wrestling with the failure of ordinary words to capture real experience. They speak in fragments and circles, abandoning the smooth progression of traditional conversation. One character might begin a thought about love, only to have another interrupt with observations about the destructive nature of romantic clichés. Another abandons mid-sentence the conventional phrases that once described their work, their relationships, their hopes. These characters believe that standard ways of talking and feeling have become toxic. They experiment with new forms of expression, testing whether genuine emotion can emerge from the wreckage of familiar patterns. Their conversations fracture and restart, following the sudden leaps that catastrophe theory describes rather than linear development. Through their struggles with language and connection, they search for moments of authentic being that conventional interpretation cannot destroy.
Genres: drama, literary-fiction, 20th-century, psychological-thriller, 21st-century, academic
Vibes: intimate, lyrical, thought-provoking
Tropes: experimental-narrative, fragmented-dialogue
342 pages · Hardcover · Dalkey Archive Press