Halifax author Michael Murphy’s first novel A Description of the Blazing World weaves together two narratives; one of the slightly maladjusted Morgan Wells, who undertakes a creepy mission to find other Morgan Wellses of Toronto after receiving a postcard addressed to a different Morgan Wells; and the actions of a teenage boy who finds a copy of Margaret Cavendish’s The Blazing World during the 2003 blackout in Toronto, and takes the discovery as a premonition of the end of the world.
If you’ve ever had a case of mistaken identity, theorized about the coming apocalypse or you’re just a fan of power outages, A Description of the Blazing World launches on Sunday, September 18 at the Company House (7pm) with a reading by Murphy and a musical performance by Jon Samuel of Wintersleep. While getting a copy of Murphy’s novel is reward enough, there will also be blackout themed loot bags for guests. Says Murphy of said bags: “There are a few surprise items, but I think the best thing you’ll find in there is a chocolate bar that has my book cover printed on it. It’s actually pretty cool, though I’m not sure how I should feel about people eating my book.”
If you are more likely to play solitaire by candlelight than compose a nasty screed to NS Power the next time salty fog strikes, Murphy can relate. “There’s something about losing power, losing the option to watch TV, or go online, and simply being forced to interact either with your family, or your roommates, or just sit by yourself without any distractions. It’s kind of like camping in your own house. It’s also a sort of pseudo-apocalyptic moment, especially when you lose power in a storm. Power outages give us a glimpse of what our lives might be like without electricity. But they’re really just a vacation. Unless it happens in the winter. Then it’s just cold and terrible.”
Murphy is also studying law at Dalhousie, which suddenly makes me feel really lazy. “I have actually found that the busier I am in life, the more I tend to make of the free time that I have,” says Murphy. “The project I’ve been focusing on the most right now is a novel that takes place in Halifax, about a car accident that occurs just moments after a major environmental catastrophe. The story is told from five different perspectives, one after the other. I know that’s a pretty vague description, but I’m a bit superstitious about saying too much about projects before I’ve finished at least a first draft. Talk to me about it in a year or so.” Will do.
This article appears in Sep 15-21, 2011.
This is a great book – I’ll be there!