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Book Cover for: Observatory Mansions, Edward Carey

Observatory Mansions

Edward Carey

Once the Orme family's magnificent ancestral estate, Observatory Mansions is now a crumbling apartment complex, home to an eccentric group of misfits. One of them is Francis Orme, who earns his livelihood as a living statue. When not practicing "inner and outer stillness," Francis steals the cherished possessions of others to add to his private museum. The other tenants are equally as odd: his mother and father, who haven't interacted in years; a man who continually sweats and cries; a recluse who prefers television to reality; and a woman who behaves like a dog. When Anna Tapp arrives among them she stirs their souls, bringing long forgotten memories to the surface-and arousing fears that this new resident intends to provoke a metamorphosis.
Reminiscent of Beckett, Ionesco, and Millhauser but startlingly original, Observatory Mansions is also unexpectedly beguiling. Upon its publication in England, it was a literary sensation, and John Fowles called it "easily the most brilliant fiction I've seen this year."

Book Details

  • Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
  • Publish Date: Feb 5th, 2002
  • Pages: 368
  • Language: English
  • Edition: undefined - undefined
  • Dimensions: 8.04in - 5.24in - 0.74in - 0.73lb
  • EAN: 9780375709234
  • Categories: LiteraryGothicPsychological

About the Author

Edward Carey is a playwright. This is his first novel. He lives in London.

Praise for this book

"A sublime take on the Gothic horror novel, an endearing love story...and a triumphant argument for how brilliant the novel can still be."-Detroit Free Press

"Readers who complain there's no originality left in the world should visit Observatory Mansions."-USA Today

"A funny, sad, and provocative novel."-The Washington Post Book World

"Observatory Mansions is a strange and beautiful book. . . . That this is a first novel is a wonder." --The Memphis Flyer