Television: [A Novel] (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9781564783721)

The amusingly odd protagonist and narrator of Jean-Philippe Toussaint's novel is an academic on sabbatical in Berlin to work on his book about Titian. With his research completed, all he has left to do is sit down and write. Unfortunately, he can't decide how to refer to his subject Titian, le Titien, Vecellio, Titian Vecellio so instead he starts watching TV continuously, until one day he decides to renounce the most addictive of twentieth-century inventions. As he spends his summer still not writing his book, he is haunted by television, from the video surveillance screens in a museum to a moment when it seems everyone in Berlin is tuned in to Baywatch. One of Toussaint's funniest antiheroes, the protagonist of Television turns daily occurrences into an entertaining reflection on society and the influence of television on our lives.

Author: Jean-Philippe Toussaint
ISBN-10: 1564783723
ISBN-13: 9781564783721
Publisher: Dalkey Archive Press
Language: English
Published: 10/08/2004
Pages: 168
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.51lbs
Size: 7.98h x 5.54w x 0.55d

Review Citation(s):
Kirkus Reviews 10/01/2004 pg. 937
Publishers Weekly 10/18/2004 pg. 48
Library Journal 11/01/2004 pg. 78
Booklist 12/15/2004 pg. 709
New York Times 01/02/2005 pg. 11