Lunar Follies

A richly entertaining journey through the art world, narrated by an acutely insightful raconteur.

In writing that is bawdy, clever, irreverent, and wry, Sorrentino gathers a motley collection of art world aspirants, rejected writers, vacuous exhibitionists, and the discourse, trends, and corporate coddling that surround them. With precise comedic timing and an abundance of erotic detail, Lunar Follies skewers postmodern culture in a bitingly satiric tour of imaginary gallery, museum, and performance art exhibitions. These 53 “reviews,” named after geographic features of the moon, provide a guide through the lunacy of a contemporary art world valiantly maintaining its pretensions in the face of a society that barely notices it.

Publication date: April 1, 2005

Format: Trade Paper

Dimensions: 5.5 x 8.5

Page count: 144 pages

ISBN: 9781566891691

A luminary of American literature, Gilbert Sorrentino (1929-2006) was a boyhood friend of Hubert Selby, Jr. and a confidant of William Carlos Williams. He is the author of the classic novels Mulligan Stew and Little Casino and over thirty other books, including A Strange Commonplace, Lunar Follies, The Moon in Its Flight, and The Abyss of Human Illusion. A former editor at Grove Press, Sorrentino taught at Stanford University for many years before returning to his native Brooklyn.

“For decades, Gilbert Sorrentino has remained a unique figure in our literature. He reminds us that fiction lives because artists make it. . . . To the novel—everyone’s novel—Sorrentino brings honor, tradition, and relentless passion.”

—Don DeLillo