By Jared Marcel Pollen
Paperback, 5.5×8.5, 200 pages, ISBN 9780921332862
$19.99
Venus&Document is a powerful reassertion of the political and philosophical importance of the contemporary novel; it is a brilliant intellectual comedy about the tyranny of “current events,” and the culture of perpetual crisis.
Jared Marcel Pollen’s debut novel Venus&Document, gives lyric voice to philosophic insight and addresses itself directly to the cultural maelstrom in which we find ourselves.
The novel is set in New York City after a natural disaster strikes and strange demonstrations begin to spring up all over the globe, with thousands of people occupying Central Park. Paul Kenning, journalist and writer, receives a special assignment by his editor to write about these mysterious “Events.” Paul comes to find himself with a monumental task – he believes he can write a great essay that will diagnose the ails of modern culture and explain the times in which he lives, certain that mass enlightenment, or perhaps his own death lies at the end of his effort.
Paul Kenning is a comic figure for these strange times. As he navigates the affairs of his love life during a time of distress, he must explain it all – the rising tides, rising crime, refugee crises, political corruption, income inequality, racial injustice, and the overwhelming daily influx of information. Can he keep up with the relentless pace of events, as everything––including history itself––seems to be accelerating?
Jared Marcel Pollen lives in Prague. He was born in Canada, studied politics and literature at the University of Windsor and received his MFA from Sarah Lawrence College in NY. Venus&Document (2022) is his debut novel. His book of short stories The Unified Field of Loneliness, published by Crowsnest Books (2019), collects ten stories which take place from Paris to New York to Vienna to London and locates characters living in a condition of terror, solipsism, and displacement in the technological age. His work has appeared in the Los Angeles Review of Books, Quillette, Tablet, 3:AM Magazine and Liberties.
