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On Certainty

By Karla Kelsey
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Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
On Certainty presents lyrical poems telling the story of a nameless woman navigating a technological dystopia. In a world where a Tyrant dominates a decimated ecology filled with android deer and burnt towns, individuals rely on virtual reality augmentation. The narrator must decide whether to assume the Philosopher’s role in resisting the Tyrant, weighing the risk of perpetuating catastrophic systems. The work weaves speculative fiction, philosophical aphorism, lyric fragment, and documentary technique, reflecting a world both familiar and unsettling.
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Format: Paperback / softback
$4399
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Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

Ideal for readers interested in feminist literature, speculative fiction, philosophical poetry, and thought-provoking explorations of dystopian futures and contemporary ecological challenges.

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Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Lyrical poems that tell the story of a nameless woman navigating a technological dystopia.

In the poems of On Certainty, an unnamed woman in a strangely familiar dystopia narrates a story of power and decline, where the Tyrant has gained ascendency and the Philosopher is dying. Here, the Tyrant rules over a decimated ecology filled with android deer, burnt towns, and exhausted individuals dependent on virtual reality augmentation.

In choosing whether to take the Philosopher’s place in a struggle against the Tyrant, the narrator must consider how her decision may perpetuate the currently existing catastrophic systems.

Weaving together speculative fiction, philosophical aphorism, lyric fragment, and documentary technique, On Certainty echoes the contemporary world that can feel simultaneously quotidian and strange.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Critics praise On Certainty as a feminist, philosophical meditation on power, loss, and knowledge. Brenda Iijima describes it as a fierce and elegant saga that explores socio-political and ecological disaster through fragmented and mesmerizing poetic transmissions. The collection is noted for its beauty, lyricism, and provocative reflections on the blurred boundaries between the real and virtual.

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Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9781632431202

Publisher: Omnidawn Publishing

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 20 December 2023

Country: United States

Imprint: Omnidawn Publishing

Audience: General / adult, Professional and scholarly

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 10.0mm

Width: 152.0mm

Height: 229.0mm

Weight: 172g

Pages: 80

Collections

Arts & Culture Karla Kelsey Non-Fiction Poetry Science & Nature

About the Author

Karla Kelsey’s poetry books include Blood Feather; A Conjoined Book, also published by Omnidawn; Iteration Nets; and Knowledge, Forms, the Aviary, selected by Carolyn Forché for the Sawtooth Poetry Prize. Her book of experimental essays, Of Sphere, was selected by Carla Harryman for the 2016 Essay Press Prize. With Aaron McCollough, she copublishes SplitLevel Texts, a press specializing in hybrid genre projects.

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