5

There was a book I read in the 90's, I guess. Set in Paris, it followed a bunch of punks who spent their time having firework fights in the catacombs under Paris, skating the streets on their anti-gravity skates, dressed in leathers, high, listening to soundscapes mapped to the geography of the streets.

The hero meets a crazy uptown heiress and after having an affair that ends badly, she tries to kill him, so he gathers his friends and invades her family's flying pyramid home.

God, I loved this book and I can't believe it isn't a famous classic. I suspect I read it when I was like 14 and in fact it was rubbish. ...but I don't really believe that, the ideas in it were so good.

Oh, and there was a bad guy called Two Tone, because his hair was dyed two colours, only then he dyed it all one so they called him... shit, I can't believe how bizarrely memory works.

Please god someone tell me the title because it's killing me.

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
6

The book is "Bad Voltage" by Jonathon Littell

"In the Paris of the future, a group of punk outlaws run riot. One of the gang rebels against the punks' newest fetish of cannibalism and becomes involved in an adventure with a computer network situated inside a stolen necklace."

Bad Voltage Cover

Littell himself described the book as "a very bad science-fiction novel". It's also notable that his next book won the Literary Review's annual "Bad sex in Fiction" award.

Improve this answer
5
  • 4
    Dear Richard, thank you, I don't remember the canabalism but I do remember that cover, with those terrible haircuts, even that tagline. I'm looking forward to rereading it, good or bad.
    – gervase
    Commented Jan 25, 2014 at 20:53
  • 3
    When even the author slates it, you know it's gonna be bad. I expect you to report back afterwards...
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 25, 2014 at 20:54
  • 3
    The Kindly Ones (which won the Bad Sex in Fiction award) is a controversial, incredibly well-researched, interesting, and very successful book that really disgusted me on multiple levels. Just saying this to point out it's a lot more than the (kitschy and repetitive) porn in it. Littell is a very talented, if really weird, writer.
    – SáT
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 13:29
  • So his professed disgust at his own writing may be less about self-knowledge and more about self-publicity.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jan 30, 2014 at 17:23
  • 1
    @gervase - Just a quick reminder that you've not yet pressed the "accepted" button to mark my answer as correct.
    – Valorum
    Commented Jul 2, 2016 at 9:55

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.