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    The Way of the World: A Novella
    The Way of the World: A Novella
    The Way of the World: A Novella
    Ebook40 pages38 minutes

    The Way of the World: A Novella

    By Matthew Simon Alexander

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    About this ebook

    An anonymous narrator... An anonymous boy... An anonymous girl... None extraordinary... None connected... Does anyone even care?

    The Way of the World: A Novella is an experimental work dealing with the complications of narrative voice. How 'real' are those voices within our own minds? Which thoughts are worthy of utterance? How do we feel about those areas of the mind which contain disturbing elements? The chaotic impulses of human existence are explored...

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMatthew Simon Alexander
    Release dateFeb 26, 2013
    ISBN9781301964710
    The Way of the World: A Novella
    Author

    Matthew Simon Alexander

    Matthew Simon Alexander holds an MA in Contemporary Literature and Culture from the University of Manchester. He is currently undertaking a PhD English at University of Liverpool. His research focuses on David Foster Wallace's corpus around the broad theme of gender relations.Academic publications:On the Notion of “Failure” in David Foster Wallace's Infinite Jest: A Consideration of Joelle van Dyne's Character and the Figure of St. Teresa of Avila - http://www.excursions-journal.org.uk/index.php?journal=excursions&page=article&op=view&path%5B%5D=214David Foster Wallace and Repressive Taboos: Clenette Henderson, yrstruly and the identity politics of representation - https://www.academia.edu/33249759/David_Foster_Wallace_and_Repressive_Taboos_Clenette_Henderson_yrstruly_and_the_identity_politics_of_representationEngaging with David Foster Wallace's Hideous Men - http://community.dur.ac.uk/postgraduate.english/ojs/index.php/pgenglish/article/view/180Queer and Transgender Representation, and the Queering of Language in the Works of David Foster Wallace: So What [is] the Exact Pernt to that Like [?] - http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/luminary/issue5/index.htm

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      Book preview

      The Way of the World - Matthew Simon Alexander

      The Way of the World: A Novella

      By

      Matthew Simon Alexander

      All Rights Reserved

      Text copyright © 2013

      Published by Matthew Simon Alexander

      Smashwords Edition

      This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

      eBook cover image courtesy of Billy Frank Alexander http://pinterest.com/donhendricks/billy-frank-alexander-artist/

      Table of Contents

      Chapter 1 - A Not so Nice Voice in my Head

      Chapter 2 - Boy

      Chapter 3 - Girl

      About the Author

      Chapter 1 - A Not so Nice Voice in my Head

      Maybe you should rename your house ‘Conformity?' Plain old number 19 or Flat 28a just simply won’t do – neither will some weirdly fused hybrid of yours and another's name in another lazy attempt at enlivening your dull and largely pointless existence by offering up the latest poor example of sickening distastefulness (please don't admit to having one of those licence plates where the letters/digits are manipulated to hint at your name/character/yawn). Indulge me and take a tour around your home, kitchen first. Is the décor a reflection of your inner-self or simply a stereotype of a kitchen that you are led to believe is homely, like the ones you see in magazines or in showrooms that you’ve walked around in? Are your efforts an attempt at ‘defining’ your own unique style, be it rustic, contemporary, bourgeois-chic, or bohemian eco-friendly, etc? (Delete as necessary). Now, how many gadgets do you have? And how many do you actually use? Do you have a whizzy blendy thingy for whizzing and blending all manner of smoothie? I’ll sell you mine if not. It’s never been used and has all the accessories for melding all kinds of solid things into a gloopy, messy, oddly-coloured menstrual fluid of a mess. Would you even notice if bodily fluids had been added to such a jolly liquidy form?

      Stick with me... Imagine a friend, or friends, inviting you round and you get a bit thirsty and they offer you a bespoke, blended just for your pleasure ‘drinky-poo.’ It’s pomegranate, lemon, raspberry, banana and ginger, they tell you (amend quantity and contents to taste). How would you know that they hadn’t picked a scab and squeezed a drop of their lovely red stuff in it? What if you didn’t compliment them on their newly fitted granite worktops in a convincing enough manner? It wouldn't take much for them to snap and consider using a discarded tampon, for instance, with which to motion the final stir of your refreshing beverage. Next time you go over you had better lavish them with exuberant, abundant praise over their choice of sunken ceiling lighting that creates an atmosphere of warmth whilst at the same time drawing the eye

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