In publishing terms, The Palace Of Wisdom has everything. It boasts a slick contemporary design, strong celebrity endorsements and lengthy, lively interviews with some of the biggest stars of music, literature and popular culture. Almost every name in the book will be instantly recognisable to the book-buying public, from teenagers upwards. It's a great beach or bathroom read, as well as an ideal gift book.
This is a book that looks over the edge and reports back, the better for us all to understand the demons that have taken some of our most interesting and successful writers, entertainers and artists in their grip.
Including the author himself.
THE AUTHOR:
One of Ireland's most controversial young writers, Olaf Tyaransen has been described as the enfant terrible of Irish journalism. The name is well earned. Tyaransen is currently writer-at-large with Hot Press, the radical popular culture and rock'n'roll magazine.
*On a special Hot Press commission, Tyaransen ran for election to parliament in Ireland on a Cannabis Legalisation ticket, plunging himself into national controversy. His subsequent best-selling memoir,
The Story Of O, was widely hailed as one of the most extraordinary works of autobiography to have emerged from Ireland.
*This was followed by the sensational Sex Lines, a collection of stories of sexual excess that centred around an original account of a trip to the Ukraine to find a mail-order bride.
Now comes Tyaransen’s third book, Palace of Wisdom...
THE LAUNCH:
The book is being launched on August 10th in Dublin by the Booker prize winner, DBC Pierre. The writer's work has also been endorsed by a number of other high profile writers and artists.
The cover features a specially commissioned portrait of Olaf Tyaransen, with singer Grace Jones, painted by the internationally renowned Irish artist Graham Knuttel.
"Interviewer extraordinaire!" - Will Self
"Olaf Tyaransen is the genuine article" - Robert Sabbag, author of Snowblind
"One of the country's most interesting and gifted young writers" - John Connolly, Irish Times
CONTENT:
Open any random page and you're guaranteed that somebody interesting is talking about something fascinating.
*Sinn Fein President Gerry Adams angrily denying membership of the IRA. . .
*Allen Ginsberg confessing his membership of NAMBLA [North American Man Boy Love Association] . . .
*Will Self talking about the pitfalls of taking smack on John Major's campaign jet. . .
*Booker-prize winner DBC Pierre recalling his misspent drug-fuelled Mexican youth. . .
*English artist Sebastian Horsley explaining why he decided to have himself crucified in the Philippines. . .
*Robbie Williams doing his best Sean Connery impression . . .
*Sex and the City creator Candace Bushnell recalling the night she almost killed herself. . .
*drug dealer Allen Long explaining his $350,000 a month lifestyle . . .
and much, much more.
The most recent interview in the collection, with Booker-winner DBC Pierre, was described by the novellist himself as, " . . . the most complete and accurate rendering of my life ever written. Eight million times better than anything else!"
That would make a fitting assessment of Palace Of Wisdom as a whole. It is one of the popular culture books of the year...
Palace of Wisdom is published by Hot Press Books
To buy direct from Hot Press book go here
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