The Jazz Age: An Entertainment

Aidan Semmens' The Jazz Age is a dreamworld of historical figures cast into times and places other than their own, playing on anachronism and dislocation to surreal, witty, and frequently comic effect. It is an entertaining exploration of belief systems, social hierarchy, human individuality, and inter-relationships.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 144 pages
Publication date: 15 October 2022
Publisher: Salt Publishing

If you can envision William Blake engaging in a Scrabble match with Joni Mitchell, Catherine of Aragon checking into the Holiday Inn, or Cassius Clay encountering the apostle Paul on the road to Damascus, you're prepared to enter the fantastical realm crafted by Aidan Semmens in The Jazz Age. After five books of intense, some would argue challenging, poetry, he has created something more accessible, surprising, and enjoyable. Through a series of prose vignettes, he brings together a diverse range of historical figures and places them in contexts that are distinct from their own, employing anachronism and dislocation to achieve a surreal, witty, frequently comic, occasionally poignant, or disturbing effect. Each brief episode is crystal clear, the entire piece theatrical, and delightfully absurd. While you may detect a questioning of belief systems, social hierarchies, human individuality, and inter-relationships, at its core, this work is primarily intended for entertainment.

Weight: 138g
Dimension: 130 x 197 x 16 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781784632601