I Bought a Little City
Mar 2014 · Penguin UK
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46
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About this ebook
"I Bought a Little City [is] a take on the role that a writer has in writing a story - playing god, in a certain way." Donald Antrim, novelist.
'Got a little city, ain't it pretty'.
Galveston, Texas, has been bought. It suits its new owner just fine. So he starts to change it. He creates a new residential area in the shape of a Mona Lisa jigsaw puzzle, shoots six thousand dogs, and reminds those who complain that he controls the jail, the police and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. But, playing God has its limitations, which he soon discovers when he starts to covet Sam Hong's wife. With Donald Barthelme's unmistakeable ability to blend absurdity and the recognisable details of ordinary life, this is an uncanny tale about urban planning, capitalism and God.
'Got a little city, ain't it pretty'.
Galveston, Texas, has been bought. It suits its new owner just fine. So he starts to change it. He creates a new residential area in the shape of a Mona Lisa jigsaw puzzle, shoots six thousand dogs, and reminds those who complain that he controls the jail, the police and the local chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. But, playing God has its limitations, which he soon discovers when he starts to covet Sam Hong's wife. With Donald Barthelme's unmistakeable ability to blend absurdity and the recognisable details of ordinary life, this is an uncanny tale about urban planning, capitalism and God.
About the author
Donald Barthelme (1931-1989) published twelve books, including two novels and a prize-winning children's book. A playful, postmodernist writer, he wrote stories, satires, parodies and other formal experiments that challenged the forms and subjects of literature before him. He was a regular contributor to the New Yorker and taught creative writing at the University of Houston. He won a Guggenheim Fellowship, a National Book Award and a National Institute of Arts and Letters Award, among others.
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