Kapow! by Adam Thirlwell

Kapow!

Adam Thirlwell

This book is about ordinary people surviving a revolution. It is confusing, and the text comes at you backwards, forwards, inverted, crosswise in every imaginable direction. Because revolutions are like that - completely chaotic, exhilarating and frightening. And be careful how you turn the pages because you might miss something important - or not.

Extract
I was meditating allegories of the croissant, while my heroes had already left the square for the night. And this is really kind of humiliating - to be left behind by your characters. It wasn't long, like just the time it takes to smoke a panatella. So there they were, eventually. I caught them up. They were in the streets that at one point were boastfully said to look European. Rustam and Nigora were standing and staring at their reflections in a dark shop window, while performing one of their private scripts.
Parallels
  • Cairo, my city, our revolution by Ahdaf Soueif
  • The Blind Man's Garden by Nadeem Aslam
  • Death of a Ladies' Man by Alan Bissett