The Cyclist Conspiracy
"Some books grow old with years, some are rejuvenated, some remain the same. But extremely rare are those that manage to force reality to change and adapt to what is written in them. Some twenty years ago The Cyclist Conspiracy seemed like postmodern brick-a-brack. Today, it is a historical record that becomes more and more true with every new day."--David Albahari
The Cyclist Conspiracy tells the tale of a secret Brotherhood who meet in dreams, gain esoteric knowledge from contemplation of the bicycle, and seek to move in and out of history, manipulating events; the Brothers are part of a conspiracy so vast and so secret that, in many cases, the conspirators themselves are unaware of their participation in it. Told through a series of 'historical documents'--memoirs, illustrations, letters, philosophical treatises, blue prints, and maps--the novel details the story of these interventions and the historical moments where the Brotherhood has made their influence felt, from the assassination of Archduke Ferdinand to a lost story of Sherlock Holmes.
Masterfully intertwining the threads of waking and dreams into the fabric of the present, the past, and the future, Svetislav Basara's Pynchon-esque The Cyclist Conspiracy is a bold, funny, and imaginative romp.
Svetislav Basara is a major figure of contemporary Serbian literature and the author of over two dozen novels and short story collections. In 2006 he receive the NIN Award, and served as the Serbian Ambassador to Cyprus from 2001 to 2005.
Randall A. Major teaches in the English Department at the University of Novi Sad, and is one of the editors and translators of the Serbian Prose in Translation series produced by Geopoetika Publishing in Belgrade.
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