Today we continue our celebration of author Ben Marcus with a reading from his most recent novel, The Flame Alphabet, in which Marcus literalizes “the power of language”: childrens’ speech is fatal to adults.
Departing the technical didacticism of The Age of Wire and String–a faux handbook–Marcus plunges his protagonists into apocalyptic peril, relishing the viscerality that comes with weathering a pandemic, and, in this excerpt, exploring the devastation of witnessing a loved one perpetrate atrocity.
CLICK TO WATCH MARCUS READ FROM HIS FIRST NOVEL THE AGE OF WIRE AND STRING.
