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Article: Novel by committee a highbrow success.(Daily Break)
- Article from:
- The Virginian-Pilot (Norfolk, VA)
- Article date:
- August 20, 2006
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2006 The Virginian Pilot-Ledger Star. All rights reserved. Reproduced with the permission of the Dialog Corporation by Gale Group. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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54
WU MING
Harcourt. 549 pp. $25.
BY BRENT A. BOWLES
"54" IS A collaborative novel by five Italian authors working under the name Wu Ming, which in Mandarin Chinese means "no name."
The festive and anonymous nature of collective fiction writing couples well with the subject of "54," a long story focused on a variety of European characters in the title year, 1954, the height of the Cold War. What distinguishes "54" from other politically charged novels, however, is the fierce and unyielding erudition of Wu Ming's narrative structure.
Their style can be difficult to penetrate, but for patient and selective readers, ...