And the Ass Saw the Angel
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| And the Ass Saw the Angel | |
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| Author | Nick Cave |
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| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Genre(s) | Novel |
| Publisher | Black Spring Press, Harper Collins |
| Publication date | 1989 |
| Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
| Pages | 320 pp |
| ISBN | ISBN 1-880985-72-1 |
And the Ass Saw the Angel is the first and only novel by the musician and singer Nick Cave, originally published in 1989 by Black Spring Press in the United Kingdom and Harper Collins in the United States. It was republished in 2003 by 2.13.61 (ISBN 1-880985-72-1). A luxury Collector's edition was released, summer 2007, by Black Spring Press.
With its Southern Gothic setting, critics have compared it favorably with novels by American authors William Faulkner and Flannery O'Connor.[1][2]
Contents |
[edit] Plot
And the Ass Saw the Angel tells the story of Euchrid Eucrow, a mute born to an abusive drunken mother and a father obsessed with cruel traps and animal torture. His father's dangerous traps, greasy and vile, just might maim or kill an unwary person. The ultimate outcast, scorned even among outsiders, in a valley of fanatically religious Ukulites, Euchrid bears silently his mother's beatings, his father's inturned indifference, and the hatred and loathing of an entire town. Euchrid's increasingly fractured mind teems with words and horrible angelic visions, narrated by his silent Southern drawl. To wit, Cave phonetically renders the boy-narrator's "I" as "Ah." Raised to inevitable madness in this world of inbreeding, moonshine, and fanaticism, Euchrid will exact his terrible vengeance on the people who have made his life one of nearly unrelenting pain.
[edit] Major themes
The lyrics of some of the songs from the first few albums of Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds (From Her to Eternity, The Firstborn Is Dead and Your Funeral... My Trial), are extensions of the ideas represented in the novel. The title comes from the Bible, the Book of Numbers 22:23, where Balaam does not see the angel of the Lord but his mule does.
[edit] Awards and nominations
- 1990 Time Out Magazine: Book Of The Year
[edit] Notes
[edit] External links
- Black Spring Press: Publishers of the English edition and the Collector's edition.
