The Golden Age is a fantastical travelogue in which a modern-day Gulliver writes a book about a civilization he once encountered on a tiny island in the Atlantic. The islanders seem at first to do nothing but sit and observe the world, and indeed draw no distinction between reality and representation, so that a mirror image seems as substantial to them as a person (and vice versa); but the center of their culture is revealed to be The Book, a handwritten, collective novel filled with feuding royal families, murderous sorcerers, and narrow escapes. Anyone is free to write in The Book, adding their own stories, crossing out others, or even ap- pending footnotes in the form of little paper pouches full of extra text but of course there are pouches within pouches, so that the story is impossible to read in order, and soon begins to overwhelm the narrator s orderly treatise.

About the Author
Michal Ajvaz is a Czech novelist, essayist, poet, and translator. In 2005, he was awarded the Jaroslav Seifert Prize for his novel Pra?zdne? ulice (Empty Streets). He is a researcher at Prague's Center for Theoretical Studies. In addition to fiction, he has published an essay on Derrida, a book-length meditation on Borges, and a philosophical study on the act of seeing. Michal Ajvaz is a Czech novelist, essayist, poet, and translator. In 2005, he was awarded the Jaroslav Seifert Prize for his novel Pra?zdne? ulice (Empty Streets). He is a researcher at Prague's Center for Theoretical Studies. In addition to fiction, he has published an essay on Derrida, a book-length meditation on Borges, and a philosophical study on the act of seeing.

Awards
Commended for Best Translated Book Award (Fiction) 2011.



Book Information
ISBN 9781564785787
Author Michal Ajvaz
Format Paperback
Page Count 329
Imprint Dalkey Archive Press
Publisher Dalkey Archive Press
Weight(grams) 403g