Stranded in Sub-Atomica

Tim Turnbull

Published Nov 2005
ISBN 0954198360

Price £10  (inc UK p&p*)

Tim Turnbull's Stranded in Sub-Atomica takes its name from an issue of the Marvel comics series Fantastic Four though, unlike its futuristic predecessor, Turnbull's is a world devoid of superheroes and secret powers: a contemporary dystopia which lies not a million miles from home. Entering, we encounter a paean to Johnny Cash, a lament for the Austin 1800 and witness mankind's appetite for destruction as glimpsed in a Laurel and Hardy museum. Sharply observed narratives cross the arcs of young lives, arcs not always rising, lives often stuck, alienated or marginalised. As he offers up a lullaby for an alcoholic and delivers darkly-skewed love poems, Turnbull presents us with poetry as a fragile bulwark against the iniquitous and the absurd. Sometimes reminiscent of Tony Harrison, Turnbull's work is unflinching, brilliantly comic and committed to the vernacular. Stranded in Sub-Atomica is a startling debut from an excellent new satirical voice.

 

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