The co-op bookstore for avid readers
Book Cover for: The Limits of Vision, Robert Irwin

The Limits of Vision

Robert Irwin

"If a world can be seen in a grain of sand, then surely phobia can be found in a handful of dust, or so contends obsessed British housewife Marcia, as she does endless battle with dandruff, the carapaces of roaches, grease, rust, grit, the whole panoply of household detritus. Terrorized by the imminent arrival of her coffee-morning ladies, she vacuums the carpet, only to be bested by the spirit Mucor, whose Latin name embodies all elements of slime and grime and who tries to entice her into the kingdom of filth over which he rules. To avoid him she enters the dazzling cleanliness of the Pieter de Hooch canvas hanging on her wall, invoking de Hooch and a raft of other geniuses- Darwin, Teilhard de Chardin, Leonardo, Blake, Dostoyevski, even Jesus to assist her. The coffee-morning ladies arrive; she half-listens to their prattle while impatiently waiting for them to leave so she can attack the dishes they have dirtied. Soon her husband, whom she suspects of having an affair with one of the ladies, will come home; how can she defeat Mucor before that moment? The solution is in perfect harmony with this astonishing work of imagination and erudition."
Kirkus Reviews

Book Details

  • Publisher: Dedalus
  • Publish Date: Aug 5th, 2022
  • Pages: 120
  • Language: English
  • Edition: Revised - 0002
  • Dimensions: 7.70in - 4.90in - 0.50in - 0.35lb
  • EAN: 9781912868575
  • Categories: FeministLiteraryFantasy - Urban

About the Author

Irwin, Robert: - Robert Irwin (born 1946) is a novelist, historian, critic and scholar. He is a fellow of The Royal Society of Literature.

He is the author of nine novels: The Arabian Nightmare (1983), The Limits of Vision (1986), The Mysteries of Algiers (1988), Exquisite Corpse (1995), Prayer-Cushions of the Flesh (1997), Satan Wants Me (1999) Wonders Will Never Cease (2016), My Life is Like a Fairy Tale (2019) and The Runes Have Been Cast (2022).

Praise for this book

"The Limits of Vision is an immensely intelligent and delightful novel that constantly jumps and turns through level after level of humour and invention. It is a dance of a book...dense with wit and surprise...a great pleasure." -Stephen Dobyns in The New York Times
"...unique, a ravishing product of pure imagination." -The New Statesman
"Weird, hilarious, yet elegantly disciplined, here's a hybrid of satire, fable and reportage. Jaded readers will treasure it." -The Daily Mail