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Essays, Manifestos, Statements, Speeches, Maxims, Epistles, Diaristic Jottings, Narratives, Natural histories, Poems, Plays, Performances, Ramblings, Revelations, and all such ephemera as may appear necessary to bring society into a slight tremolo of confusion and fright at least.

New Jerusalem

Len Jenkin

A Sun & Moon title.

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"Faber, the hard-boiled newsman who narrates, is sent on assignment to the New Jerusalem, a mysterious oriental island on which, during an experiment in penology during the 1990's, thousands of criminals were dropped and then left in isolation for several generations. Led by one Arnheim, the convicts have rebuilt their island domain in the vague, imperfectly remembered images of capitalism: cars, skyscrapers, high-rise hotels. Tourists seeking unwholesome thrills--the world has gotten safer but tamer since the abolition of crime on the mainlands--throng, at first, to the island when it is finally reopened. When Arnheim dies, however, his personality cult is replaced by the zealous cult of 'Kamoro.' When Faber arrives in the New Jerusalem, he is greeted by a deserted city hall, empty hotels, and a Mystery. Everyone on the island is hunting for a shoebox full of 'keph,' a drug made from dolphin brain--very addictive, highly euphoric. In the course of Faber's corpse-strewn adventures, we begin to learn the details. The 'Kamoro' cult is named for the fake cardboard cameras (emblem of the departed tourists?) draped round the necks of the faithful. The Kamoro gather in the public squares awaiting the ship their leaders have promised--full of small appliances. Their god of wrath is 'Maganavox.' Their chant is 'San-Yo! Motorola!' The chapter epigraphs--from Sax Rohmer, Charlie Chan, the Bible, William Blake, Edgar Allen Poe--reflect the author's eclecticism as he forcibly marries high and low art--visionary anger and cheap-shot parody."

--Kirkus Reviews