Page Numbers Source ISBN: 0307399419
Publisher: Portobello Books (January 6, 2011)
Sold by: Amazon Digital Services, Inc.
Language: English
ASIN: B004I8WHQA
Text-to-Speech: Enabled
X-Ray:
Not Enabled
Lending: Not Enabled
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,648,127 Paid in Kindle Store
Publication Date: January 6, 2011
Mickey is your average teenage boy, until he meets seventeen-year-old Hope Randall. Living in what was once an exotic pet shop with a bathtub for a bed, Hope is anything but average. For every member of her family, the onset of puberty seems to bring with it a prophetic vision of the world, which – when Armageddon fails to materialize – invariably tips the expectant prophet over the edge. So far, Hope is a late developer and has yet to receive her revelation. Instead, she picks a date at random, has it 'confirmed' by the best-before date on a batch of ramen noodles, and begins to wait for the worst. In the meantime, Mickey is falling helplessly in love. But what kind of future can you have with someone who believes that doomsday looms? Moving between Canada and Japan, between solid ground and flights of the surreal, Apocalypse for Beginners is the lovely, surprising story of two people travelling from friendship to romance, and from separation to the possibility of reunion.
Editorial Reviews
Review
"Ramen noodles, the Berlin wall, David Suzuki, pretzels, white cowboy boots, Hiroshima, Kuwait, Nana Mouskouri, sparkly blue nailpolish, zombies, young love… Apocalypse for Beginners is fresh and quirky and darkly fun. Fans of Nikolski will not be disappointed."
— Annabel Lyon, author of The Golden Mean
“An enjoyably eccentric novel. . . . A bizarre and darkly funny journey. Part romance, part mystery, part absurdist comedy, it is a worthy follow-up to Dickner’s acclaimed debut.”
— Winnipeg Free Press
“The surface sparkles with historical and pop-cultural references, a sweet and subtle love story and marvellous, quirky fixations (including David Suzuki, baseball stadiums and the number of lemons required to power an atomic bomb).”
— Quill & Quire
“Charming. . . . The novel twinkles with the same idiosyncratic rhythm that made Nikolski such a delight. . . . By turns sharp, thoughtful and sweet. . . . With a writer as nimble as Dickner in our midst, here’s hoping that [the world does not end] . . . any time soon.”
— Emily Landau, The Globe and Mail
“We’re reminded that part of what made Nikolski so deservedly popular was Dickner’s deft hand with tone and mood. . . . Those strengths are on even greater display in the new novel.”
— The Gazette
“This slickly composed novel glides between Quebec, Seattle and Tokyo and gleams with on-trend observation and doomsday cynicism.”
— The Independent
“An eccentric, ebullient romantic comedy about deep friendship and eternal love.”
— Kate Saunders, The Times
About the Author
NICOLAS DICKNER won two literary awards, including the Prix Adrienne-Choquette for the best collection of short stories of the year, for his first published work, L'encyclopédie du petit cercle. Nikolski won three awards in Quebec, one in France, and was the winner of Canada Reads 2010. Born in Rivière-du-Loup, Quebec, he travelled extensively in Europe and Latin America before settling down in Montreal. He currently writes a weekly column for Voir, and is working on his next novel.
LAZER LEDERHENDLER was a three-time finalist for the Governor General's Literary Award before winning the prize for Nikolski, which also won a Quebec Writer's Federation Award. Mr. Lederhendler lives in Montreal, where he teaches English and film at the Collège international des Marcellines. |
