Other editions of book Shining at the Bottom of the Sea

A virtuoso performance from a literary talent who crafts a vividly drawn history of an imaginary country. In this stylistic tour de force, Stephen Marche creates the entire culture of a place called Sanjania—its national symbols, political movements, folk heroes, a group of writers dubbed "fictioneers," a national airline called Sanjair, and a rich literary history. This richly detailed story takes you to an island nation whose English-speaking citizens draw upon the English, American, Australian, and Canadian literary traditions. Marche has compiled this brilliant anthology, guiding the reader from the rough-and-tumble pamphlets of 1870s Sanjania to the extraordinary longing of the writings of the Sanjanian Diaspora. These works develop into a Rashomon-like story, introducing us to illustrious Sanjanian figures such as the repentant prostitute Pigeon Blackhat and the magically talented couple Caesar and Endurance. The result is a vibrant evocation of a country—from the birth pangs of its first settlers and their hardy vernacular to its revolutionary years and all the way to the present.

In this stylistic tour de force, Stephen Marche creates the entire culture of a place called Sanjania—its national symbols, political movements, folk heroes, a group of writers dubbed "fictioneers," a national airline called Sanjair, and a rich literary history. Sanjania is an island nation whose English-speaking citizens draw upon the English, American, Australian, and Canadian literary traditions. This brilliant story is an anthology, taking the reader from the rough and tumble pamphlets of 1870s Sanjania to the burgeoning Sanjanian nationalistic awareness in the 1930s literary journal, The Real Story, to the extraordinary longing of the writings of the Sanjanian Diaspora. These works develop into a Rashomon-like story, introducing us to illustrious Sanjanian figures such as the repentant prostitute Pigeon Blackhat and the magically talented couple Caesar and Endurance. The result is a vibrant evocation of a country— from the birth pangs of its first settlers and their hardy vernacular to is revolutionary years and all the way to the present—all told in Stephen Marche’s innovative and accomplished writing.

Shining at the Bottom of the Sea is a vividly imagined anthology of Sanjania, a fictional country created by one of the most impressive voices in Canadian literature, Stephen Marche. The novel offers a rich and varied portrait of Sanjania and its way of life through a collection of stories—from pirate tales to social realist dramas, from folk parables to avantgarde experiments, from nineteenth-century prostitution “confessions” to postcolonial memoirs. Part satire, part commentary on literary nationalism, part acrobatic feat, Shining at the Bottom of the Sea is above all else an original and absorbing read. Its stories range from wickedly funny to heartbreakingly sad and will be enjoyed by all readers—even the ones who have never had a chance to visit Sanjania.