{"product_id":"9781761153327","title":"The Theory of Everything","description":"Author: Yumna Kassab\u003cbr\u003eISBN: 9781761153327\u003cbr\u003ePublisher: Ultimo Press\u003cbr\u003eYear first published: 04 Mar 2025\u003cbr\u003ePages: 304 \u003cbr\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e‘In \u003ci\u003eThe Theory of Everything\u003c\/i\u003e, Kassab realises the potential and fulfils the promise of her earlier work. This is a writer at her intellectual and poetic peak. Innovative, ambitious, unapologetically intellectual, fearlessly honest, deeply emotional. Read this book – you will be changed.’ \u003cb\u003e– Shankari Chandran, Miles Franklin–award winning author of \u003ci\u003eChai Time at Cinnamon Gardens\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003ci\u003eGood News: The worst has already happened.\u003cbr\u003e\n\n Bad News: Even worse is on the way.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis is a fictional theory, a rant, a manifesto, an engagement or disengagement with the times, a record; it is bearing witness, a dramatisation of actual events, a horror-scape, either a monologue or dialogue, a testament, travel guide, handbook, textbook, potential encyclopaedia; it is five mini-novels or else five post-novels, an epic, a drop in the ocean, an homage, a reference, one long secret handshake, an agreement, a wink; it is an explosion of form, tangential, discursive, a firming of the foundations, a lament, an absurdist comedy with realism that is as realistic as it gets; it is a spectrum, shades of black from the dark to the next shade up from white, a proliferation, a step back, a righting, a note to oneself, a line in the sand or a gust in the form of a structure-shaking gale; it is a dance (a two-footed, single-person linedance), an experiment, pure science, flicking the finger; it is, of course, backing away, crossing the street and avoiding eye contact; it is fantasy, humour, a romance without any leads, a defiance, a subdued rebellion, an anti-philosophical philosophy; it is pacifism that instigates a fight, a denouncement in the form of a laugh, an exploration, an adventure, a time lapse, a panorama, a conclusion; you may just have to read the theory because these are just alluding-to-the-theory words.\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003ci\u003eTHE THEORY OF EVERYTHING\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘Ambitious and far-ranging in scope’ \u003cb\u003e–\u003ci\u003eArtshub\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘Kassab tackles almost everything, from gender and social inequality to love and war, and whatever else it is, this is stylish and searching writing, with an exquisite command of language holding fast through unstable experimentation with form.’ \u003cb\u003e–\u003ci\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘Like the philosopher who is freed from the cave and can see the truth, Kassab exposes the flaws in our thinking. If a novel’s purpose is to reflect our world, this post-novel’s purpose appears to be to encourage us to question that world, to think differently, to see beyond the shadows.’ \u003cb\u003e–\u003ci\u003eThe Conversation\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘Kassab has written fireworks into these pages.’ \u003cb\u003e–\u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘ambitious in scope and style’ \u003cb\u003e–\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBig Issue\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘Kassab’s book poses questions about the novel form and answers them in ways that are continuously surprising and probing. It is both personal and expansive; introspective and ambitious.’ \u003cb\u003e– Kylie Mirmohamadi, author \u003ci\u003eDiving, Falling\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003ci\u003ePOLITICA\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Like an impressionist painter, Kassab uses words like brushstrokes to build a vivid picture of intertwined lives set against the continuing drumbeat of war. The narrative moves between past, present and future and uses time as an effective device to illustrate how the effects of war linger long after its cessation.’ \u003cb\u003e–\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eBooks + Publishing\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘an evocative literary tale’\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003e \u003c\/i\u003e– \u003ci\u003eThe Australian Women's Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘In a 2022 interview, Kassab said a responsibility of the novelist is to “write with an eye towards humanity”. And she never falters in this, with \u003ci\u003ePolitica \u003c\/i\u003ealways drawing us back to war’s immeasurable personal cost.’ \u003cb\u003e– \u003ci\u003eThe Guardian\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cb\u003ePRAISE FOR \u003ci\u003eTHE LOVERS\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e‘Sometimes, Kassab shows us, love can be another word for cruelty. Sometimes the stories we hide behind reveal our deepest truths.’ \u003cb\u003e– \u003ci\u003eSydney Morning Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n ‘Beautifully told in Yumna Kassab's poetic prose, \u003ci\u003eThe Lovers\u003c\/i\u003e is both the story of the tumultuous relationship between Amir and Jamila and an exploration of class, culture and the complex nature of love.’\u003cb\u003e –\u003ci\u003e Sunday Life\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\n\u003cbr\u003e\n\n  \u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Ships in 10 to 15 days","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46521307627678,"sku":"TLD-9781761153327","price":34.78,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0400\/9043\/5742\/files\/9781761153327.jpg?v=1771300542","url":"https:\/\/classicbargains.com.au\/products\/9781761153327","provider":"Classic Bargains Australia","version":"1.0","type":"link"}