Courtesy of daemonsbooks.com
The man who pissed off Oprah in not only coming out with a new controversial novel, but a new controversial distribution model for authors.
Frey’s (A Million Little Pieces, My Friend Leonard, Bright Shiny Morning) new novel is titled The Final Testament of the Holy Bible, which covers the bible in modern day Bronx, except the Messiah is a bisexual alcoholic who impregnates a prostitute, among other things. This is a statement from the author on Frey’s website:
“My goal was not to retell the story of Christ. That has been done, and done well. My goal was to create a new mythology. One that is relevant in a world with nuclear weapons, advanced physics, the internet, genetic testing and manipulation, one where we know homosexuality is not a decision. My goal was to create a mythology, to tell a story, to make a work of art that made sense in a world where we know things that people, and writers, 2000 years ago could never have known or imagined. Whether I was able to do it or not will be determined by readers, and by time, and by history.”
Now, this already sounds interesting, and probably offending to a large number of people. On top of it, the author is bypassing the traditional publishing route. According to The New York Post, Frey is teaming with art gallery owner Larry Gagosian, who will publish 11,000 in the US, and Frey will self-publish the rest online.
Frey has always been one to seek controversy, so although the book itself sounds interesting, it also sounds like he’s fishing for it again. The publishing model is much more interesting to me — if it’s successful, it could lead a new wave of authors to Radiohead-ize their work, which would open doors for millions of smaller authors to do the same.
