Tom McCarthy

Opening in England at the turn of the twentieth century, C is the story of Serge Carrefax, whose father experiments with wireless communication while running a school for deaf children. Serge grows up amid the noise and silence with his brilliant but troubled older sister, Sophie: an intense sibling relationship that haunts him as he heads off into an equally troubled larger world. As Serge goes from a Bohemian spa to the skies of World War I, and from a German prison camp into the tombs of Egypt, we follow his life through the tumultuous course of the nascent modern era. Tom McCarthy--acclaimed author of Remainder--has created a truly singular character, and a world that sparkles with historical breadth and postmodern originality.

Follows the life of Serge Carrefax, a man who surges into the electric modernity of the early twentieth century, transfixed by the technologies that obliterate him. Born to the sound of one of the experimental wireless stations, Serge finds himself steeped in a weird world of transmissions.

Scribe, drug-addict, soldier, spy – a brilliant and troubled jurist in Europe’s highest courts becomes a double agent, risking it all amidst the crimes that define our era Stanton is an ex-soldier who served in Iraq and speaks with a stutter, his legacy from a difficult childhood. He is also the unlikely star jurist at the Court of Justice of the European Union. Stanton is responsible for translating Europe’s biggest court cases into laws that will govern the lives of millions. But when he meets an enigmatic stranger called Pirotti at a conference in the Swiss Alps, his allegiance begins to shift. Pirotti offers Stanton two blue pills, known as petit bleus, for the war wound that still troubles him and the effects are so powerful – and addictive – they send Stanton into visions and reveries of pure feeling. Crucially, they bring him closer than anything else to the defining moment of his life: a violent incident in Iraq that continues to haunt him. Soon Stanton finds himself passing the Court’s confidential papers to Pirotti’s colleagues in exchange for a steady supply of the petit bleus. When the Court begins to detect a leak in security, it suspects everyone but Stanton, who can do no wrong. All it needs is for Stanton to deliver a landmark ruling, more important and far-reaching than anything he has written before. But Stanton has been working on something else, a vast document of markings, patterns and revelations that has the power to change, and destroy, the life he and those around him have so carefully constructed.

A timely exploration of Austrian writer Ingeborg Bachmann by Booker-shortlisted author Tom McCarthy. Since her untimely death in 1973, Ingeborg Bachmann has come to be regarded as one of the twentieth century’s most important writers. Unpacking a single Bachmann poem, novelist Tom McCarthy latches onto two of its central terms — the eponymous threshold and ledger — and takes off on a line of flight: through the work of Franz Kafka, David Lynch, Anne Carson, Sappho and Shakespeare. Can writing be understood as an experience of the threshold, a limit- or boundary-state? A condition of ecstasy or ec-stasis, standing outside of oneself? If so, then how might such experience be archived, jotted down, notated? And when the boundaries of the self are ruptured, who then might be said to be this ledger’s author? Appearing on the eve of Bachmann’s centenary year, McCarthy’s book not only celebrates her brilliance, but also argues for the centrality of her vision to the very act of literature itself, whatever epoch it may be composed in. Comp titles: White Girls by Hilton Als; Feel Free by Zadie Smith; The Possessed by Elif Batuman; The Irresponsible Self by James Wood

The most ambition and exciting novel yet from the Booker shortlisted author of C and Satin Island.Bodies in motion. Birds, bees and bobsleighs. What is the force that moves the sun and other stars? Where's our fucking airplane? What's inside Box 808, and why does everybody want it? Deep within the archives of time-and-motion pioneer Lillian Gilbreth lies a secret. Gilbreth helped birth the era of mass observation and big data but did she also discover a 'perfect' movement that would 'change everything'? An international hunt begins for the one box missing from her records, and we follow contemporary motion-capture consultant Mark Phocan across geo-political fault lines and experimental zones in his search for it. And all the while, work is underway on the blockbuster film Incarnation, an epic space tragedy...'Dazzling... The Making of Incarnation feels utterly original, utterly new, utterly magical' Neel Mukherjee, author of The Lives of Others'Hugely interesting, energetic, wise and well written' GQ'A rich and fascinating exercise in observation' Independent

Saddle up for a wild ride through those thrilling days of yesteryear. In Stories of the Old West, Steven Price serves up a heapin’ helpin’ of tales of America’s frontier days: ranches and rodeos, lawmen and desperadoes, saloons and gunslingers, wilderness exploring and range warfare, and everything else that reflects our fascination with our Western heritage from its earliest untamed era to the dawn of the 20th Century. Contributors include Zane Grey, Buffalo Bill Cody, Theodore Roosevelt, Calamity Jane, Stewart Edward White, Frederic Remington, Ned Buntline, Mark Twain (“Roughing It”), Thomas North Willa Cather, Helen Cody Wetmore, O. Henry, Bret Harte and Owen Wister, to name only a few.

The title of the catalogue of works by the artist duo Stefan Panhans (Germany) and Andrea Winkler (Switzerland) is a nod to the rhetoric used by evangelical megachurches in the United States that preach a market-oriented, neoliberal ideology of individual self-optimisation under the guise of Christian pastoral care. The artists’ works touch on electric SUVs, communication with forms of artificial intelligence, racism in everyday life, celebrity cults, stereotypes, computer games, the “uncanny valley,” and other post-digital feedback loops between humans and virtual worlds, but also on the precarious condition of cultural sector workers. Panhans and Winkler are masters at using a broad spectrum of artistic genres and media, such as novels, texts, performances, installations, miniseries, musicals, sculptures, objects, films, videos, and dance. Their video installations can be subsumed under what is known as “expanded cinema”: the displayed objects, which also appear in the videos, are presented in a way that allows the films to expand into the surrounding space, drawing viewers into the artwork. Text in English and German.

Bodies in motion. Birds, bees and bobsleighs. What is the force that moves the sun and other stars? Where's our fucking airplane? What's inside Box 808, and why does everybody want it? Deep within the archives of time-and-motion pioneer Lillian Gilbreth lies a secret. Famous for producing solid light-tracks that captured the path of workers' movements, Gilbreth helped birth the era of mass observation and big data. Did she also, as her broken correspondence with a young Soviet physicist suggests, discover in her final days a 'perfect' movement, one that would 'change everything'? An international hunt begins for the one box missing from her records, and we follow contemporary motion-capture consultant Mark Phocan across geo-political fault lines and experimental zones: places where the frontiers of potential - to cure, kill, understand or entertain - are constantly tested and refined. And all the while, work is underway on the blockbuster film Incarnation, an epic space tragedy. Audacious and mesmeric, The Making of Incarnation weaves a set of stories one inside the other, rings within rings, a perpetual-motion machine. Tom McCarthy peers through the screen, or veil, of technological modernity to reveal the underlying historical and symbolic structures of human experience.

The third of four special publications to accompany a year-long display of works from Barcelona’s "la Caixa” Collection at Whitechapel Gallery, selected by and featuring newly-commissioned fictional works by some of the most original English and Spanish-language writers working today. Established in Barcelona in 1985 by Fundación la Caixa’, the ”la Caixa” Collection features over 1,000 works of international contemporary art from the last 30 years, including artists such as Antoni Tàpies, Joseph Beuys, Cornelia Parker and Doris Sal-cedo.For a major four-part display running from 2019–20, Whitechapel Gallery has partnered with ”la Caixa” to showcase key pieces from the Collection, with each of the four ‘chapters’ curated by a contemporary writer, who will also contribute a brand new work of fiction in response to their selection. Each display will be accompanied by a fully-illustrated catalogue featuring the works displayed and the new text.The third chapter, on display in Autumn 2019, will be selected by Tom McCarthy (b. 1969, UK; lives in London and Berlin), a writer whose novels include Satin Island (2015), which was shortlisted for the Man Booker Prize, C (2010) and Remainder (2005). He is also the author of a collection of essays Typewriters, Bombs, Jellyfis (2017). McCarthy was also on the jury for the 2018 Turner Prize and is a co-founder of the International Necronautical Society (INS), an expansive, networked organisation that slides between the worlds of art, fiction, philosophy and media.Preceded by selections from Enrique Vila-Matas and Maria Fusco, this third chapter will be followed by a final fourth chapter in Spring 2020 with new writing by Valeria Luiselli.

From the early years of Western Expansion to the present day, our history is marked by the heroic exploits of the rescuer and the rescued in some of the most daunting geographic, meteorological, and otherwise life-threatening challenges. "First responders" have variously been members of law enforcement to ordinary good samaritans who couldn't look the other way in the face of their brethren in peril. This book collects the most compelling search-and-rescue accounts of the last two hundred years, from William Lewis Manly bringing relief to '49ers lost in Death Valley, to modern-day SAR teams working with the National Park and Forest Services to locate missing hikers or carry out the injured from a wilderness mishap. Of course, many search-and-rescues turn into a body recovery effort, or even a criminal investigation if foul play is suspected. Regardless of the outcome, this book honors those who put others' lives before their own in the face of peril.

An ultimately uplifting lesson on life and love that only a special bond can bring. What happens when the indelible bond between a man and a dog formed in the harshest of conditions is put the test? Moving and uplifting, here is the long-awaited updated edition of The New York Times best-selling From Baghdad with Love. Lt. Col. Jay Kopelman went to extraordinary lengths to bring back to America the puppy his combat-hardened Marines rescued in war-torn Fallujah—called the “most dangerous city on Earth.” That tense journey back to peacetime America was the easy part, they would learn. By the time they returned home, Lava and Lt. Col. Kopelman were kindred spirits, bound by the chaos they had shared in Iraq. From hardened soldiers to wartime journalists to endangered Iraqi citizens, From Baghdad, With Love told the unforgettable true story of an unlikely band of heroes who learn unexpected lessons about life, death, and war from a mangy little flea-ridden refugee. Lt. Col. Kopelman won the hearts of readers everywhere with his moving story of adopting Lava. This revised and updated edition takes readers back to America and new challenges both Lt. Col. Kopelman and Lava faced—what millions of veterans returning from wars in Iraq and Afghanistan faced: Trying to live normal lives after chaotic life-and-death combat tours. As they settled back into life far from Iraq and war, he and Lava learned that while they both faced daily challenges, they had each other, and that bond proved to be all they needed. The transition was not easy but with each other’s love they would survive. Theirs was a passage ripe with answers and inspiration for anyone.

A Century of Impact celebrates the first 100 years of the National Parks Conservation Association, tracing its history and vision through stunning photography and tales of victory in a beautifully designed keepsake book. From its founding by the same visionaries who helped to create the National Park Service to present-day battles to protect our public lands, the National Parks Conservation Association has been the independent, non-partisan protector of America's favorite places. A Century of Impact presents this admirable legacy through richly illustrated tales of an impassioned organization in action -- fighting off threats to park lands, water, air and wildlife, and advocating for a park system that tells a more complete American story. Readers will enjoy fascinating and often untold tales of park protection -- such as saving Olympic's old-growth forests from WWII lumber production; restoring the endangered Florida panther in the greater Everglades ecosystem; keeping the nation's largest landfill from the doorstep of Joshua Tree; defeating a proposed casino sited within cannon range of the hallowed ground of Gettysburg -- and an inside look at how persistent advocacy led to the creation of parks from Great Basin and Tallgrass Prairie to Pullman, Stonewall and Birmingham. With A Century of Impact, readers are invited to join NPCA's centennial celebration and discover how this humble organization has helped to shape the National Park System as we know it. More than that, it is a compelling reminder that the future of this nation's most sacred spaces lies in the hands of ordinary citizens, united to ensure that America's best idea endures for generations to come.

Foibles into Fables is a collection of humorous anecdotes, stories, and tales that have been experienced by Tom McCarthy over sixty-plus years. Enjoy meeting friends, family, and odd acquaintances from his grade school years through college, onto marriage, family, and work that have been part of some of the funniest moments of his life. Even though many of the stories have disastrous happenings and consequences, they are all told through a humorously jaundiced eye. A few of these may have just happened to you.

Saddle up for a wild ride through those thrilling days of yesteryear. In Stories of the Old West, Steven Price serves up a heapin’ helpin’ of tales of America’s frontier days: ranches and rodeos, lawmen and desperadoes, saloons and gunslingers, wilderness exploring and range warfare, and everything else that reflects our fascination with our Western heritage from its earliest untamed era to the dawn of the 20th Century. Contributors include Zane Grey, Buffalo Bill Cody, Theodore Roosevelt, Calamity Jane, Stewart Edward White, Frederic Remington, Ned Buntline, Mark Twain (“Roughing It”), Thomas North Willa Cather, Helen Cody Wetmore, O. Henry, Bret Harte and Owen Wister, to name only a few.

Using the professional life of psychologist-educator Thomas N. McCarthy as a touchstone, Developing the Whole Person: A Practitioner’s Tale of Counseling, College, and the American Promise explores the achievements and difficulties of postwar counseling psychologists and psychologist-administrators in American higher education. They advanced a whole person development model for student life inside and outside the classroom, despite skepticism from faculty and other administrators and the emergence of a potent student freedom model in the late 1960s that insisted students were adults. These two models have persisted in tension with one another ever since.