LANOYE, Tom. Monster Trilogie.

(Antwerpen/ Amsterdam): De Slegte/ Prometheus, 1997-1999-2002.  Limited edition.  Octavo.  336, 513, and 436 pages  Through three volumes and more than more than one thousand pages, Tom Lanoye, always witty and razor-sharp, lets sixteen striking characters wander through modern, mythical Flanders. Through a disintegrating family in a crumbling country in the heart of Europe, he offers a kaleidoscopic view of the general discontent of our time (1996-2011). The main character is the beautiful child-woman Katrien Deschryver. In a hunting accident in the South of France, she shoots her husband dead because she thinks he is a wild boar. Back home and accused of murder, she does not feel like a criminal but a martyr, abused by everyone. Not only does the archetypal Flemish clan of the Deschryvers slowly fall apart, an entire country is exposed. The malaise appears to prevail everywhere: among individuals and politicians, family and industry, justice and journalism. The controversial, ten-part TV series Goddelijke Monster (The Divine Monster) is based on this trilogy, which consists of the novels;  Goddelijke Monster, Zwarte Tranen en Boze Tongen. (The Divine Monster, Black Tears and Evil Tongues).  The series was highly praised for its razor-sharp social analysis and psychological insight into the characters’ world of experience. Tom Lanoye is one of the most widely read and acclaimed writers in Belgium. He is a novelist, poet, columnist, screenwriter, playwright. He was shortlisted for all the major prizes and was awarded three times the Gouden Uil Publieksprijs, three times humo’s Gouden Bladwijzer, the Gouden Uil Literatuurprijs, the Henriette Roland Holstprijs and the first Belgian to be awarded the Dutch Gouden Ganzenveer (Golden Quill) for his entire oeuvre, and this year the Prijs der Nederlandse Letteren.  The three volumes, at the author’s request have been garishly bound, in coconut mat, carpet, and mop fabric with coloured string ties (red, yellow, black, the national colours of Belgium).  Forty copies of the work were so bound, numbered and signed by the author.  Of the forty copies, seven, as this, were presented in a flight case designed by Otto Koch.  The box lid features an Atomium (in yellow).  The Atomium  is a landmark modernist building in Brussels, Belgium, originally constructed as the centrepiece of the 1958 Brussels World’s Fair.  An incredible presentation of this important work.