On Wings of Song

Here is a haunting vision of America of the future in the fine tradition of Delaney and Bradbury: the story of Daniel Weinreb's struggle to master the art of song and thus the art of flight. He is driven by the knowledge that some have attained flight, their spirits separated from their physical bodies and propelled on the waves of their own singing voices—literally borne on wings of song. He yearns for this new perception of the world, or for the possibility that an entirely new world might reveal itself.

Born during the 21st century in Amesville, Iowa, his early efforts are thwarted because flying is illegal in this repressive state. He is sent to Spirit Lake, a prison without bars where each prisoner carries an electrically controlled explosive in his stomach which can be detonated by headquarters. On his release Daniel meets and marries the lovely Boadicea Whiting who on their honeymoon succeeds in her flying attempt, leaving him wifeless and earthbound. With Disch as our masterly guide, we follow Daniel through some enchanting and bizarre terrain in his heroic efforts to join her, ending up in a decadent New York at the height of a bel canto revival, peopled by grotesques and seething with corruption.

This extraordinarily rich novel is a perfectly weighted fable for our time. The author's flights of fantasy are tempered by his sharply ironic wit, and the result is a story which will intrigue and enchant.