Ghostwritten
by David Mitchell
- Used
- Fine
- Paperback
- first
- Condition
- Fine
- ISBN 10
- 0340739746
- ISBN 13
- 9780340739747
- Seller
-
Tomball, Texas, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
First UK Edition/First Printing of the Softcover Edition; A Fine book in wraps, with only slight age-toning to the top exterior text block, else as new and unread. This is the true first edition of this author's debut novel, a paperback original; Mitchell being the author of "Cloud Atlas", "Number 9Dream", etc. Not remaindered, not ex-library; in a protective Mylar bag and will ship carefully wrapped in a sturdy box.
Synopsis
Ghostwritten, David Mitchell's acclaimed first novel, interweaves nine independent plots from characters in locations around the world - all seemingly connected by chance events. Winner of the John Llewellyn Rhys Prize - issued for the best work of fiction in the commonwealth by an author under 35 - many of the themes persist through much of Mitchell's subsequent work.
Read More: Identifying first editions of Ghostwritten
Reviews
Ghostwritten is the first novel by British author, David Mitchell. Told by nine different narrators, with a plot spanning centuries and continents, this is an amazing debut novel. The narrators are a member of a doomsday cult who releases poison gas in a subway in Tokyo, and details his retreat to Okinawa and a small nearby island, Kume-jima; a jazz aficionado who works as a sales clerk in a Tokyo music store; a lawyer in a financial institution in Hong Kong who has been moving large sums of money from a certain account; a woman who owns a Tea Shack on China's Holy Mountain and speaks to a tree; a non-corporeal sentient entity which is searching for who or what it is; a gallery attendant in Petersburg who is involved in an art theft scam; a ghostwriter/drummer living in London who saves a woman from being run over by a taxi; an Irish nuclear physicist who quits her job when she finds her research is being used for military purposes; and a late night radio talkback DJ who finds himself fielding calls from an intriguing caller referring to himself as the zookeeper. Mitchell weaves together these nine narrations into a cohesive whole with vague or occasionally direct references to a myriad of common themes, characters, objects, or words (including, but not limited to, albino conger eels, camphor trees, an earth-bound comet, Kilmagoon whiskey, jazz music, cleaning toilets and artificial intelligence) in each narration. His characters muse on, ponder and articulate on various themes: love/lust; chance/fate; brainwashing; propaganda; one's own place in the world; why we are who we are; principles; and the character of London Underground Lines; There is humour, irony, intrigue, and a plentiful helping of tongue-in-cheek comments. And when Mo Muntervary tells Father Wally “Phenomena are interconnected regardless of distance, in a holistic ocean more voodoo than Newton”, she could be describing Mitchell’s own love affair with connections: fans of Mitchell's work will also recognise certain characters and concepts from his other novels, in particular, Cloud Atlas, Black Swan Green and number9dream. This is a brilliant debut novel.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Grayshelf Books, ABAA, IOBA (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 3322
- Title
- Ghostwritten
- Author
- David Mitchell
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Binding
- Paperback
- ISBN 10
- 0340739746
- ISBN 13
- 9780340739747
- Publisher
- Sceptre
- Place of Publication
- London
- Date Published
- 1999
Terms of Sale
Grayshelf Books, ABAA, IOBA
Bryan H. Young D.V.M.dba Grayshelf Books, 19111 Desert Eagle Dr., Tomball, Tx 77377Email - bhydvm@gmail.comWe accept payment by Paypal, Visa, Mastercard, checks, or money orders.Texas residents please add 8% sales tax.We guarantee all books to be as described.Additional scans of books will be provided upon request.
30 day full money back guarantee to include shipping costs if an item arrives damaged or not as described in listing.
About the Seller
Grayshelf Books, ABAA, IOBA
About Grayshelf Books, ABAA, IOBA
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Text Block
- Most simply the inside pages of a book. More precisely, the block of paper formed by the cut and stacked pages of a book....
- New
- A new book is a book previously not circulated to a buyer. Although a new book is typically free of any faults or defects, "new"...
- First Edition
- In book collecting, the first edition is the earliest published form of a book. A book may have more than one first edition in...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...