“The final volume in Iyer’s gloomily brilliant trilogy about a toxic friendship between unfortunate philosophy dons, boozing and bitching in the great tradition of Beckett’s double acts.” — The Guardian
Lars and W., the two preposterous philosophical anti-heroes of Spurious and Dogma — called “Uproarious” by the New York Times Book Review — return and face a political, intellectual, and economic landscape in a state of total ruination.
With philosophy professors being moved to badminton departments and gin in short supply — although not short enough—the two hapless intellectuals embark on a relentless mission. Well, several relentless missions. For one, they must help gear a guerilla philosophy movement — conducted outside the academy, perhaps under bridges — that will save the study of philosophy after the long intellectual desert known as the early 21st-century.
For another, they must save themselves, perhaps by learning to play badminton after all. Gin isn’t free, you know.
LARS IYER is a lecturer in philosophy at the University of Newcastle upon Tyne. He is the author of two books on Blanchot (Blanchot’s Communism: Art, Philosophy, Politics and Blanchot’s Vigilance: Phenomenology, Literature, Ethics) as well as the two preceding titles in this series: Dogma and Spurious. He is a contributor to Britain’s leading literary blog, Ready, Steady, Book.
”It was more than a book: it was a revelation, in that Biblical sense of words being exposed down to their meaning, to the deed in the world to which they referred.” —The Quietus
”There is a superfluous joy to these novels…They are satisfying paradoxes – ‘difficult’ books which are consummately readable; exuberant books about bleakness.” —The Spectator
“Hysterically funny…The trilogy is meant as a capitalist critique…but that description belies the buoyant pleasures of the writing.” —The New York Times
”Lars Iyer has made a challenging and vigorous contribution to our sense of the importance of literature and thought in our vexed cultural moment…With the sequel to Spurious, Dogma, Iyer confirmed his importance as part of an “enclave outside literature.”—The Quarterly Conversation
“Iyer’s books aren’t so much sad as brimming with good tidings about a utopia that remains pure as long as no one ever does anything … like Beckett, they use art to remind us that the whole point is to try, and fail, then try again, and fail better next time.” —Hazlitt
“The saddest, funniest undynamic duo since Vladimir and Estragon… Like Spurious and Dogma, Exodus is a novel which depends almost entirely on the quality of its scorn. And on any scorn-rating it scores pretty highly.” —The Guardian
“Entirely unlike anything else I’ve ever read…Exodus is an elegant and beautifully-written conclusion to a wholly original trilogy” —Emily St. John Mandel, The Millions
“The hilarious despair of his first two novels, Spurious and Dogma, seems to have touched a chord, each receiving near unanimous acclaim … The comedy is a little blacker this time around, and the black a little funnier still.” —Totally Dublin
”It was more than a book: it was a revelation, in that Biblical sense of words being exposed down to their meaning, to the deed in the world to which they referred.”—Tim Smyth, The Quietus
A questionnaire asking writers about the effect writing has had on their physical, emotional, and economic health. – Q&A with Lars Iyer on Full Stop
“Exodus, which follows Spurious and Dogma, is the eminently satisfying and unexpectedly moving final installment in a truly original trilogy about two wandering British intellectuals —Lars and W., not to be confused with Lars Iyer and his real friend W., whom he’s been quoting for years on his blog — and their endless search for meaning in a random universe, for true originality of thought, for a leader, for better gin.” – The Millions’ most anticipated books of 2013
Praise for SPURIOUS and DOGMA
“It’s wonderful. I’d recommend the book for its insults alone.” —Sam Jordison, The Guardian
“Uproarious.” —New York Times Book Review
“I’m still laughing, and it’s days later.” —The Los Angeles Times
“Fearsomely funny.” —The Washington Post
“Viciously funny.” —San Francisco Chronicle
“A tiny marvel … [A] wonderfully monstrous creation.” —Steven Poole, The Guardian
“This novel has a seductive way of always doubling back on itself, scorching the earth but extracting its own strange brand of laughter from its commitment to despair.” —The Believer
