The Minnow Would Be Lost

Starting on Gilligan''s island, with Aristotle clapping the ''fearless crew'' ''in front of a live studio audience and from deep within it'', Nora Chassler''s book-length poem The Minnow Would Be Lost is a deeply imaginative, lyrical and personal journey through the lives of the author (inner, outer and otherwise), from Chicago to New York City, to Edinburgh, Prague, Moscow and beyond, to the edges of reality and the limits of the human experience.

Epic in every sense, this is a no-holds-barred work of literature that scolds, loves and damns its denizens in equal measure. Scathing and appreciative, nihilistic and hopeful, arch and vulnerable, this is the author''s most original, ambitious, unforgettable achievement yet – one that ceaselessly communicates with our cultural history at all levels, whilst standing utterly alone amongst it.

Praise for Norah Chassler:

“Nora Chassler is the best writer you’ve never heard of.” — Rónán Hession, The Irish Times

“There are very few books you wish to reread immediately upon finishing, but [Madame Bildungsroman] was one for me. I highly recommend her other books as well. In a hundred years having known Nora will be the other thing I am remembered for." — Sean Ono Lennon

“Nora Chassler’s extraordinary Grandmother Divided by Monkey Equals Outer Space breaks all moulds ... a triumphant vindication of the edgy, eccentric demotic as a compelling narrative voice.” — William Boyd, The Guardian

"Offers a brilliant perspective on existence through fragments and aperçus: ambiguous, acerbic, moving and searingly intelligent." — Regi Claire