A Cure for Cancer
 Dust-jacket from the first edition | |
| Author | Michael Moorcock |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Language | English |
| Series | Jerry Cornelius |
| Genre | Literary Fiction |
| Published | 1971 (Allison & Busby) |
| Media type | Print (Hardback) |
| Pages | 256 pp |
| ISBN | 0-85031-026-1 |
| OCLC | 446616 |
| 823/.9/14 | |
| LC Class | PZ4.M8185 Cu PR6063.O59 |
| Preceded by | The Final Programme |
| Followed by | The English Assassin |
A Cure for Cancer is a novel by British fantasy and science fiction writer Michael Moorcock . It is part of his long-running Jerry Cornelius series .
The second novel of the sequence, , is essentially a collage of absurdist vignettes, many of which first appeared in an eclectic range of British and American magazines.
The lurid blurb of the original edition sets the scene in graphic terms: "Up from the ocean depths comes the jet-black caucasian transvestite champion. Resplendent in warpaint, wampum beads and silk suit by Cardin, armed only with a tomahawk and vibragun, he returns to the napalmed ruins of London to resurrect his sister and wrest from the disgusting Bishop Beesley and his formidable henchwomen the black box which has diffracted the cosmos and set the world spinning at super-speed towards its own final solution. Lock up your daughters, hide your stash, keep to the shadows."
Jerry inhabits a world at war with itself and, armed only with an occasional "vibragun" appears to fight "against history" for the freedom of "randomness" against the straitlaced conventions exemplified by his brother Frank. In the end Jerry's quest, oblique as it is, is perhaps more artistic than political.
"Jerry didn't mind the bombs as much as the rock scene. He wouldn't care what they sent so long as it wasn't Simon and Garfunkel."
References
- "Internet Speculative Fiction Database". Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- "Moorcock's Miscellany". Archived from the original on 13 November 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-16.
- Brown, Charles N.; William G. Contento. "The Locus Index to Science Fiction (1984–1998)". Archived from the original on 28 December 2007. Retrieved 2007-12-16.