Synopses & Reviews
A stunning new collection of stories by a master fictionist,
Once Human shows the ways to go beyond standard maps of simple understanding.
A manga artist who is afraid that she herself is slipping into a cartoon version of life, a lab technician who makes art with the cloning technology she uses at work, a sociologist hunting for the gene that makes some people want to take risksandmdash;these are some of the characters that populate the stories in Once Human. Exploring the spaces where life is shaped by science and the technologies we bring into being, Steve Tomasulaandrsquo;s characters often find that the harder they look at the world, the less they can say. The map that emerges from these stories charts the territory of human longing and the failure of poetry, science, and technology to explain the andldquo;whyandrdquo; of the world, if not its andldquo;how.andrdquo;
Review
andldquo;A grand historical account of how the act of representing others always includes a representation of the self. . . . [
The Book of Portraiture] reimagines what the novel, particularly the historical novel, might mean in the digital world, and it does so with verve, gusto, and style.andrdquo; andmdash;
BookforumReview
andldquo;TOC is an entrancing digital novel that explores temporalityandrsquo;s elusiveness and how, ultimately, the more we think about time, the less we really know about it. Reminiscent of Borges, Calvino, and Ballard, TOC functions less through plot than thesis, less through character than idea. Steve Tomasulaandrsquo;s latest is nothing short of brilliant.andrdquo; and#160;andmdash;Lance Olsen, author of Calendar of Regrets
Review
andldquo;In many ways, Steve Tomasulaandrsquo;s fifth book, Once Human, is a very good introduction to the work of this conspicuously unconventional writer. Venturesome readers will find that his collection indeed exhibits Tomasulaandrsquo;s trademark assimilation of visual elementsandmdash;photos, illustrations, graphs and charts, drawingsandmdash;into the verbal andlsquo;text,andrsquo; as well as the inveterate manipulation of typography and page design. But encountering these devices through a selection of stories allows the readers to contemplate Tomasulaandrsquo;s strategies in shorter samples, perhaps encouraging readers to appreciate that these strategies are both purposeful and ultimately accessible.andrdquo;and#160;andmdash;Kenyon Review Online
Synopsis
A stunning new collection of stories by a master fictionist, Once Human shows the ways to go beyond standard maps of simple understanding.
Synopsis
A manga artist who is afraid that she herself is slipping into a cartoon version of life, a lab technician who makes art with the cloning technology she uses at work, a sociologist hunting for the gene that makes some people want to take risks these are some of the characters that populate the stories in Once Human. Exploring the spaces where life is shaped by science and the technologies we bring into being, Steve Tomasula s characters often find that the harder they look at the world, the less they can say. The map that emerges from these stories charts the territory of human longing and the failure of poetry, science, and technology to explain the why of the world, if not its how. "
About the Author
Steve Tomasula is the author of the novels VAS: An Opera in Flatland, The Book of Portraiture, IN and OZ, and
Table of Contents
A New-Media Novel. His short stories have appeared in
Bomb,
McSweeneys, the
Iowa Review, and many other publications. A Howard Fellow, he lives in Chicago.