An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell
She is a shimmering, melancholy angel, flown from Paradise to save him from the suburbs of hell. He an accountant, dreaming of a white Christmas, a little garden and someone to love. She attempts to fly him away from his habits and fears, while he holds on tight to all he knows.
Man Booker Prize-shortlisted Deborah Levy whips up a storm of romance and slapstick, of heavenly and earthly delights, in this dystopian philosophical poem about individual freedom and the search for the good life.
This is the paperback edition of An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell, published in hardback by And Other Stories in 2014.
Read an ExcerptThis book is also available as a hardback.
View hardbackAbout the Book
- You can watch a film of Deborah Levy discussing An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell in her writing shed on our YouTube channel, here.
- An interview with Deborah Levy in The Independent is available here.
- Daniel Levin Becker, editor at The Believer, selected An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell as one of his books of 2014 in Salon’s Books of the Year list.
Reviews
Joanna Kavenna
‘Levy just gets it entirely - the whole business of drab and yet compelling routine, and the fear of the inestimable, the longing nonetheless, the surrender each day to the ordinary, dispersing the dream, only to dream it again. An Amorous Discourse in the Suburbs of Hell encapsulates all of this, redeems the crumpled weary mortal, sends him into a wild realm of uncertainty, satirises him, lavishes him with affection. A crazily beautiful, astonishing, original work of art.’
Lisa Appignanesi
‘I loved this effervescent dialogue between she and He, angel and accountant, wild desire and the (ever more desirable) quotidian. It’s Deborah Levy at her wise, witty and playful best. Read it and be seduced away from (or back into) the suburbs of hell.’
Praise for Deborah Levy
She is one of the few contemporary British writers comfortable on a world stage.’ New Statesman
‘Accomplished and uncanny. The strange, unpredictable journey is worth it.’ Alex Clark, Guardian
‘A major contemporary writer who never pulls her punches.’ Julia Pascal, Independent
‘Levy’s strength is her originality of thought and expression.’ Jeanette Winterson
‘She writes like a hyper-kinetic angel.’ Sunday Times
‘Angry and uninhibited, Levy's prose throbs its way into the imagination.’ Observer
