54

54

by WuMing (Author)

Synopsis

The new novel by the authors of Q. As extraordinary and bizarre a Cold War thriller as that book was a historical novel. The year is 1954, the height of the Cold War. The world is divided into East and West. In Naples, Lucky Luciano and his minions are busy fixing horse-races, and overseeing the creation of the global heroin trade. In Hollywood, members of Her Majesty's Secret Service have a bizarre and dangerous mission for Cary Grant. And in Bologna,, a lovelorn young barman, is about to embark on a painful odyssey in search of his missing father. Bringing together all these strands and more is a missing television set, a McGuffin Electric, an appliance with a very special secret...At once a political thriller and a touching romance, 54 has a cast ranging from Italian partisans to KGB agents, from American Mafiosi to Parisian lowlifes, and features appearances by Alfred Hitchcock, Marshal Tito and the Emperor of Indochina. Wu Ming - the collective formerly known as Luther Blissett - have produced another tour-de-force that paints a dazzling picture of a past age while slyly commenting on our own.

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More Information

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 550
Edition: First Edition
Publisher: William Heinemann Ltd
Published: 05 May 2005

ISBN 10: 0434012939
ISBN 13: 9780434012930
Book Overview: The new novel by the authors of Q. As extraordinary and bizarre a Cold War thriller as that book was a historical novel.

Media Reviews
Praise for Q : Big and bloody and breathtaking: a crush of colour and crowds, exotic locations and war. -- The Times If ever there was a novel that deserved to win prizes, accolades and plaudits, it is Q . . . A rich, inventive and immensely powerful book . . . Q is a great novel, one that tells us about ourselves and how we came to be here. -- Scotland on Sunday As a historical blockbuster, it boasts pace, colour, excitement and suspense to spare...Q works like a charm as a sordid, splendid period romp. -- Independent The air is full of blistering debate, revolutionary preaching and the smell of smoke, both from burning icons in the churches and the pyre on which the heretics are burned . . . A sprawlng epic. -- Guardian
Author Bio
Wu Ming means 'no name' - and therefore 'anonymous' - in Mandarin Chinese. The five members of the Wu Ming Foundation live in Bologna. Writing as Luther Blissett, their first novel, Q, was longlisted for the Guardian First Book Award and shortlisted for the Independent Foreign Fiction Prize.