The Cuckoo Cage

£12.99
Out of stock
Product Ref. (e.g. ISBN, SKU)
9781912697403
Published:
17 Feb 2022
Format:
Paperback
Number of pages:
176 pages
Dimensions:
197x127x33mm
Weight:
0.390kgs
The superhero of comic books and blockbuster movies might be a State-side phenomenon, with its conservative notions of 'truth, justice and the American way'. But the cultural DNA of the superhero arguably lies in a much older, more progressive, British tradition: the folk heroes of British protest history. Hailing from a time when protestors fought against the injustices of the privileged classes using shared pseudonymss, the British protest hero had just as super powers as their American descendents: Captain Pouch, leader of the 1607 Midlands Revolt, had his bag of magical protections; Captain Swing had the power to cause fires without being anywhere near the scene of the arson. In this unique experiment, a group of authors have been charged with resurrecting this tradition: to spawn a new generation of British superheroes to bring the fight back to these shores, and to more progressive causes.
The superhero of comic books and blockbuster movies may be a quintessentially American invention, forever saving the world in skin-tight spandex. But the cultural DNA of the superhero can arguably be traced to a much older, more progressive, British tradition: the larger-than-life folk heroes of historical protests - General Ludd, Captain Swing, Lady Skimmington, and others; semi-fictional identities that ordinary protestors adopted, often dressing up in the process. In this unique experiment, twelve authors have been tasked with resurrecting that tradition: to spawn a new generation of present-day British superheroes, willing to bring the fight back to British shores and to more progressive causes. From the dimension-jumping statue-toppler, to the shape-shifting single mum raiding supermarkets to stock local food banks... these figures offer unlikely new insights into shared, centuries-old political causes, and usher in a new league of proud, British (social justice) warriors...

About the Author: Ra Page is the founder and CEO of Comma Press. He's the editor of numerous anthologies, including The City Life Book of Manchester Short Stories (Penguin, 1999), co-editor of The New Uncanny (winner of the Shirley Jackson Award, 2008) and Litmus, voted one of 2011's books of the year by The Observer. Between 2004 and 2013 he was also the coordinator of Literature Northwest, a support agency for independent publishers in the region (until it formally merged with Comma). He is a former journalist, having been Deputy Editor for City Life magazine, and a former Director of Manchester Poetry Festival. His critical work has been published in The Journal of the Short Story in English, and he's been a producer, co-writer and co-director on a number of short film projects. He read Physics and Philosophy at Balliol College, Oxford and has an MA in English from the University of Manchester.

More Information
Number of pages 176

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