Crystal eaters by shane jones in most cases, none of these writers endorse this book. An allegory, fable, touching family saga, and poetic scifi adventure, shane jones underlines his reputation as an inspired and unique visionary. Buy crystal eaters by shane jones from amazons fiction books store. In the world of crystal eaters, it is believed each person is born with 100 crystals inside of. Crystal eaters, shane joness beautiful new novel, marks his return to the indie presses, this time with the excellent ohiobased two dollar radio. The world is segregated into the city that seems to grow on its own, faster each day, and the villagers who measure their lives by crystals. The first half of 2019 brings new books from millions contributing editor chigozie obioma, and luminaries.
Jun 18, 2014 author shane jones opens up about death and his dark new novel in crystal eaters, jones creates an outlandish world that reflects his own realizations about parenthoodand where, yes, characters. We drove to albany to talk to novelist shane jones about. The belief is that throughout your life, your crystal count is depleted through. His first novel, light boxes, was originally published by publishing genius press in a print run of 500 copies in 2009. Crystal eaters is a dense, highenergy read, despite being fairly short. And when we realize that with each page turned inside this book the. Jones demonstrates a tightropelike eye for finagling between pynchonesque quasisciencefictional feels and the books physics, allowing almost anything to happen at any time, wrapped in a wallacelike grip of childlike awe.
Free shipping and pickup in store on eligible orders. A small mining village is threatened by the constant expansion of a city on the horizon. Shane jones is the author of four novels, one novella, one collection of poetry and fables, one poetryillustration hybrid, and numerous chapbooks. The first, most obvious observation to make about shane jones crystal eaters is that it begins with a countdown. The following year was a brutal time of stagnationemails to my agent on where to submit next that went. The chapter numbers start at 40 and irregularly drop to zero by the books end.
On the cowardice of literary omphaloskepsis reluctant habits. As these books were being scrapped and before vaaaa was eventually picked up. Crystal eaters is splattered with technicolor crystal vomit and eye goo, with bodies leaking red, yellow, and blue. Its first page is numbered 183, and it descends from there, 182, 181, 180, on and on, a timer that makes this novel feel like an unusually rigid experience, temporally. Oct 22, 2019 joness phenomenal third novel, crystal eaters, published under the indie darlings at two dollar radio, is built around a world where crystal counts determine longevity and magical intricacies define its rampant mining town. If i were still the editor and he were still the publisher, beloved site founder c. It was a knockout, with writing both aggressive and poetic, grounded yet surreal.
Shane jones, the author of crystal eaters, published in june by two dollar radio. Jones is pushing genres here, not unlike george saunders or karen russell. The narrator of joness uneven novel after crystal eaters, an everyman named vincent, is pushing 40 and nine years into a mindnumbing state job that will yield an exceptional retirement package as long as he stays for 30 years. I like that crystal eaters was released via a small indie press like two dollar radio and not penguin books. After publishing two novels with penguin i was told by my editor that if sales didnt increase it would be difficult to proceed with a third book. Author shane jones opens up about death and his dark new novel.
An allegory, fable, touching family saga and poetic scifi adventure, shane jones underlines his reputation as an inspired and unique visionary. Crystal eaters by shane jones overdrive rakuten overdrive. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. It follows the surrealist tale of a small towns war. His next novel, crystal eaters, will be published by two dollar radio in june of 2014. Shop amongst our popular books, including 7, light boxes, crystal eaters and more from shane jones. Shane jones remy is a young girl living in a town that believes in crystal count you are born with one hundred crystals inside. Vice says jones demonstrates a tightropelike eye for finagling between pynchonesque quasis.
That is, unless you have a bookshelf specifically for weird, delightful, and sometimes painful, where this book might just fit in next to the orange eats creeps and the soft machine. Hes recently divorced from his wife, alice, an idealistic nonprofit worker who could no longer stand the banalities of their life. I spent more time working on crystal eaters than all the previous books combined. And, as in light boxes, the problem boils down to mortality, and how we rail against a totally inevitable demise, our varied coping strategies, the forms our. Its first page is numbered 183, and it descends from there, 182, 181, 180, on and on, a timer that makes this novel. Jul 02, 2014 shane jones s latest novel, crystal eaters, is one of those novels that defy easy description. It is listed as an allegory, fable, touching family saga, and poetic scifi adventure which sounded very interesting so i picked it up. Use features like bookmarks, note taking and highlighting while reading crystal eaters. Shane jones is the author of the novels light boxes which has been translated in eight languages and was named an npr best book of the year 2010 crystal eaters, daniel fights a hurricane, and the failure six, as well as the short story collection i will unfold you with my hairy hands and the poetry collections a cake appeared and paper champion. Discover book depositorys huge selection of shane jones books online. May 25, 2010 discover book depositorys huge selection of shane jones books online.
His latest novel, crystal eaters, is now available from two dollar radio. On february 4, 2014, buzzfeed books listed crystal eaters as one of the most highly anticipated books of the year. He first appeared in episode 301 on august 6, 2014. Publishing genius published his first novel, light boxes, in 2009. Our math formulas are supposed to be amusing anecdotes, similar to shelftalkers in bookstores that say if you like x, you might enjoy y, or this book is like cormac mccarthy writing an episode of saved by the bell with a soundtrack by philip glass. The book focuses on a family a mother, a father, a son, and a daughter that in some. The book is fantastical in nature, but in practice it forgets the shane jones spins exuberant tales that define human emotions in ways im incredibly fond of. Shane jones has a long history of working with indie presses. The books primary setting is a village where the residents believe that everyone is born with. Crystal eaters, daniel fights a hurricane, light boxes, shane jones.
Joness most recent novel, crystal eaters, was released on june 9, 2014. Both htmlgiant and the rumpus gave the book and its author, shane jones. Am magazine published the second most preposterous essay about books of this year. Shane jones is currently considered a single author. Crystal eaters is full of sentences that jump at you like a popup book, painting a world that is at some times painfully real, and at others an exercise in vivid hallucinations. Crystal eaters is the rarest of kinds of objects, one that replenishes its readers crystal counts by simply being read. Episode 301 shane jones by otherppl with brad listi podchaser. Remy is a young girl who lives in a town that believes in crystal count. Jones s most recent novel, crystal eaters, was released on june 9, 2014. Shane jones born february 22, 1980 is an american novelist, short story writer, essayist, and. Vincent and alice and alice by shane jones, paperback. Shane jones is a writer living in upstate new york. With each release, jones crafts maps to new worlds.
While the most preposterous essay about books of this year published less than a month. He is the author of light boxes, daniel fights a hurricane, crystal eaters, and vincent and alice and alice. Shane jones is a wellknown name due to the success and controversy of his debut novel, light boxes, released in 2010 by penguin books. From the second characters in shane joness crystal eaters are born, theyre losing crystals. Download it once and read it on your kindle device, pc, phones or tablets. Htmlgiant blog archive crystal eaters by shane jones. The following is an exclusive chapter excerpted from crystal eaters, edited for thought catalog. As the city encroaches, one village girl watches her mothers crystal count disintegrate as her activist brother attempts to break out of jail. Like light boxes, shane joness newest novel, crystal eaters two dollar radio, june 2014, features a victimized town, but this time the forces of evil are heat and urban sprawl. A few months ago, i began to hear murmurings of a novel called crystal eaters. Crystal eaters is full of the expectation of death.
Get the free otherppl app support the show at patreonor via paypal. Episode 301 shane jones from otherppl with brad listi on podchaser, aired wednesday, 6th august 2014. It is a summer of thunderstorms and xenophobic unrest in aville, but vincent, a former painter who works for the state, hardly notices. I read crystal eaters after being told there was a part where everything gets too confusing to keep going. Crystal eaters differs processwise very differently because before i really prided myself on fastdrafts and time restricted editing. If one or more works are by a distinct, homonymous authors, go ahead and split the author. Crystal eaters, published under the indie darlings at two dollar radio, is built around a world where crystal counts determine longevity and magical intricacies define its rampant mining town. We use cookies to give you the best possible experience. As a bookshop affiliate and an amazon associate, the rumpus earns a percentage from qualifying purchases. Crystal eaters by shane jones two dollar radio, 2014. But this overabundance means blessings for all of us as. Jones recently spoke about the challenge of plot and character development. Jun 30, 2014 crystal eaters, joness third, and latest, novel, combines the manichean appeal of light boxes with the psychological insight of daniel while introducing new themes both playful and sinister that showcase his increasing breadth as a writer. It feels good to believe in one hundred, remy tells us in the storys first line.
Shane jones, author of the novels light boxes, the failure six, and daniel fights a hurricane, as well as several story collections, chapbooks, and poetry volumes plot in a box. Jul 01, 2014 shane jones writing does not fit into any of those easy though perhaps mistaken genres by which we categorize books and sort them on our shelves. Jones is pushing genres here, not unlike george saunders or karen russell, but using a harsher lens. The sky is laced with turquoise worms, and where the sun normally is theres two red lips, a.
Clocking in at more than 120 books, it is quite simply, too long. Crystal eaters, joness third, and latest, novel, combines the manichean appeal of light boxes with the psychological insight of daniel while introducing new themes both playful and sinister that showcase his increasing breadth as a writer. On violence and the super bowl january 31, 2014 by shane jones leave a comment. Its his strongest work to date, an impressive evolution of the fabulist style readers first connected with in his acclaimed debut novel, light boxes. Vice says jones demonstrates a tightropelike eye for finagling between pynchonesque quasisciencefictional feels and the books physics, allowing almost anything to happen at any time, wrapped in a wallacelike grip of childlike awe. Two dollar radio released his third novel, crystal eaters, and now tyrant books has published his fourth. Remy is a young girl who lives in a town that believes in crystal co. Crystal eaters is easily his most ambitious work to date. It is a novel of growing up, but no, thats not really it, as the focus is not on increases but decreases, as the chapter and page numbers illustrate.
Reviews one of the best books of 2014 flavorwire, entropy magazine, esoterrorist crystal eaters is a dense, highenergy read, despite being fairly short. Jun 09, 2014 shane jones, author of the novels light boxes, the failure six, and daniel fights a hurricane, as well as several story collections, chapbooks, and poetry volumes. Crystal eaters, the latest novel by shane jones, is not about people. Just thinking about it makes me sick to my stomach and a certain drained feeling, which i think is good. The narrator of joness uneven novel after crystal eaters, an everyman named vincent, is pushing 40 and nine years into a mindnumbing state job that will yield an exceptional retirement pa. This crystal mining country is jones s own yoknapatawpha county, a town with its own peculiar inhabitants and notions and. Episode 301 shane jones by otherppl with brad listi. An artistcumbureaucrat gets his wife back or a version of her in jones crystal eaters, 2014, etc. Shane joness latest novel, crystal eaters, is one of those novels that defy easy description. This crystal mining country is joness own yoknapatawpha county, a town with its own peculiar inhabitants and notions and. Jones other books include the novels light boxes, daniel fights a hurricane, and crystal eaters. Crystal eaters really, is shane jones giant middle finger to the publishing industry and i love it.
Joness writing is simultaneously lyrical and blunt. The sky is laced with turquoise worms, and where the sun normally is theres two red lips, a parting mouth with clouds for teeth. Author shane jones opens up about death and his dark new novel in crystal eaters, jones creates an outlandish world that reflects his own realizations about parenthoodand where, yes. Shane jones writing does not fit into any of those easy though perhaps mistaken genres by which we categorize books and sort them on our shelves.