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Here is the Random House press release issued on 27 July 2009 announcing Tom McCarthy’s new two-book deal with Jonathan Cape. The first release will be C, followed by Satin Island which the author is currently working on:
27th July 2009
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:
NEW ACQUISITION FOR JONATHAN CAPE
Alex Bowler, Editor at Cape, has just bought a stunning new novel from Tom McCarthy, the bestselling author of Remainder, in a two book deal from Jonathan Pegg. Rights include World English excluding America and Canada. Jonathan Cape will publish in Sept 2010 alongside Knopf in the US.
Tom McCarthy’s first novel, Remainder, was originally published by a small Paris art press before being taken up by Vintage in the US, where it became a bestseller, and translated into over ten languages; it is currently being adapted for cinema by Film4.
Alex Bowler said: “Remainder was one of the finest novels of the decade. But C surpasses it — playful, razor sharp, thrilling. I’m delighted that he’s with us for at least two books and am convinced that his voice will become one of the most influential and distinctive in English fiction. This is a very, very special deal for Cape. We’re taking on so few new acquisitions, but we had to have Tom McCarthy. It completes the list.”
C is the story of Serge Carrefax, a young man who sees the world uniquely and lives a short life unlike any other. Born at the dawn of the 20th century, Serge is quickly steeped in the weird emergent technologies and seductive new machinery of the day — radio, cars, aeroplanes. When personal tragedy strikes, Serge’s scientific passions shade into something darker, eclipsing his ability to engage with the world, people and daily life. But this existential malaise unleashes joyful new possibilities and an incredible story of death, sex, addictions and mythologies, taking us from the eerily idyllic settings of pre-war Europe to the battlefields and prison camps of World War One, and on to the London of the roaring twenties and finally the ancient tombs of Egypt. Reminiscent of Bolano, Beckett and Pynchon, this is a remarkable novel — a compelling, sophisticated and sublimely imaginative book uncovering the hidden codes, patterns and dark rhythms that sustain human life.
More on Tom McCarthy:
Tom McCarthy was born in 1969 and grew up in London. After studying literature at New College, Oxford, he lived in Prague, Berlin and Amsterdam before settling back in London, where he immersed himself in the art world and its networks. His creation, in 1999, of the International Necronautical Society (INS), a ’semi-fictitious organisation’ that combines literature, art and philosophy as it mimics the avant-gardes of the early twentieth century, has led to publications, installations and exhibitions in galleries and museums around the world, from Tate Britain and the ICA in London to Moderna Museet in Stockholm and The Drawing Center in New York. Tom regularly writes on literature and art for publications including The New York Times, The London Review of Books and Artforum. He also teaches a course on ‘Catastrophe’ at the London Consortium.
CONTACTS:
Laura Hassan, Publicity Director Jonathan Cape
0207 840 8543/ lhassan@randomhouse.co.uk
[Pic: Tom McCarthy, London, July 2009 by Andrew Gallix.]