Attic

By Katherine Dunn

Book Overview

Here is the slim, stunning debut novel from the acclaimed author of Geek Love . Attic follows a young woman named Kay who has joined a cult-like organization that sells magazine subscriptions in small towns. When Kay tries to cash a customer's bad check, she lands in jail, and Dunn's visceral prose gives us a vivid, stream-of-consciousness depiction of the space in which she's held. As Kay comes to know the other inmates, alliances and rivalries are formed, memories are recounted, and lives are changed. Based on Katherine Dunn's own formative coming-of-age experiences, Attic was critically lauded when it was first published in 1970. Now, it stands as an extraordinary, indelible work from one of our most celebrated writers.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0525434062
• ISBN13: 9780525434061
• Release Date: July 2017
• Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
• Length: 144 Pages
• Weight: 0.30 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.4" x 5.2" x 7.9"

Customer Reviews

ANOTHER GOOD ONE

THIS BOOK HAS THE CHARACTER I EXPECT FROM KATHERINE DUNN'S WRITING, ALONG WITH THE WEIRD OBSERVATIONS, WRITING STYLE AND CONTENT. SHE HAS SUCH AN ODD VIEW OF THINGS AND THE STREAM-OF-CONSCIOUSNESS/BIZARRE STORY IS A LITTLE BIT CHOPPIER THAN TRUCK AND GEEK LOVE, BUT I STILL LIKED IT. I HOPE SHE WRITES MORE SOON! I CAN'T GET ENOUGH OF HER UNIQUE STYLE.

"attic" will lead you to insanity

Being a big fan of Geek Love, I was happy to find Attic. I wasn't sure what to expect, and what I found was a mess of prose. You are inside the mind of a crazy woman who finds herself in strange places and situations. You are given a first hand view of her thought process -- run-on sentences, vivid imagery, and confusion. I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. After reading this book, I felt insane myself. Not recommended for the mentally unstable.

A short dip in primordial swamp

Dunn on toilets:"...from thy septic whiteness, magnate and vagabond are indistinguishable...". The free-flowing, hyper-anxious prose reveals an atypical coming-of-age story, one that lacks the usual cliches and tortured self-observations indicative of the genre. Dunn's writing combines the uncanny humor of Flannery O'Connor with the deep human insight of Dostoyevsky. Read this book and get a glimpse--albeit hellish--into the human condition.

crazy truth crazy amazing stream of consciousness

Very necessary for any Geek Lover. It's like an autobiography, with the most awesome strange plot lines twisted right in. Highly sexual, disturbing, intense. And it's all stream of consciousness, and it is so good. I personally like it a whole lot more than I like Truck, and it clearly belongs to a different genre than Geek. It's intense. In honor of my great aunt Eva, I give it three enthusiastic thumbs up.