A Rising of the Lights
About this audiobook
From Booker-shortlisted author Steve Toltz, an audacious comic lament for a world that no longer knows itself
“The cure for loneliness causes loneliness. That’s the human condition.”
In a reeling world of fraudsters and hypnotists, sleep talkers and estranged twins, false alibis and second chances, Rusty Wilson is beset on all sides by mysteries. Why was his childhood decided by a throw of dice, why has his wife confessed to a lover, and why do his parents no longer wish to see him?
When Rusty loses his job to an AI system, Edwina, the mercurial friend of his youth, finds him a new role as an oracle to the young. But how can he advise anyone on what it means to be human when artificial consciousness appears within reach? If it’s all just one more con, it’s not clear who’s scamming who. Besides, should any of it matter to Rusty, when all he wants is for those he loves to love him back?
What holds a life together when everything is coming apart?
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About the author
Steve Toltz is a writer whose first novel, A Fraction of the Whole, was shortlisted for the 2008 Man Booker Prize and the 2008 Guardian First Book Award. He was born in Sydney, Australia, graduated from the University of Newcastle, New South Wales, and now lives in Los Angeles and writes screenplays.
