Man-eating Typewriter
Man-eating Typewriter by Richard Milward, published by White Rabbit in 2023, is a 536-page novel that explores the avant-garde counterculture of the 20th century. Set at the end of the 1960s, the narrative is framed as a novel within a novel, focusing on an anarchist named Raymond Novak and his ambitious plan to commit a ‘fantabulosa crime’ in 276 days. The story unfolds through a surrealistic journey that spans from occupied Paris to the cruise-liner SS Unmentionable and lawless Tangier, ultimately landing in Swinging London.
Readers will find a unique blend of satire and black humor as Novak’s memoirs draw his publishers deeper into his chaotic world. The book is told in Polari and presents themes related to LGBTQ+ experiences, freedom, and rebellion. With its hallucinogenic style reminiscent of works like A Clockwork Orange and Pale Fire, Man-eating Typewriter offers a provocative exploration of identity and societal norms, making it a notable addition to contemporary literary fiction.
Official synopsis Publisher
‘A major talent’ Irvine Welsh
‘Remarkable, beautiful, magic. Like Ulysses for those who can’t cope with reading Ulysses’ Paolo Hewitt
‘We’re all in the gutter but some of us are ogling the sparkles.’
Set at the fag-end of the 1960s and framed as a novel within a novel published by a seedy London purveyor of pulp fiction, MAN-EATING TYPEWRITER is a homage to the avant-garde counterculture of the 20th century. Told in Polari, it is the story of an anarchist named Raymond Novak and his plan to commit a ‘fantabulosa crime’ in 276 days that will revolt the world. A surrealistic odyssey that stretches from occupied Paris to the cruise-liner SS Unmentionable to lawless Tangier before settling in Swinging London, the book casts Novak as an agitator and freedom fighter – but, as his memoirs become more and more threatening, his publishers find themselves far more involved in his violent personality cult than they ever intended.
Constructed like a hallucinogenic cocktail of A Clockwork Orange, Pale Fire and Jean Genet’s jailbird fantasies, MAN-EATING TYPEWRITER is an act of seductive sedition by a writer with unfathomable literary talent and boldness. Wild, transgressive, erotic and resolutely uncompromising, this marks the return of a writer who is out there on an island of his own making; a book that will be talked about, celebrated and puzzled over for decades.
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