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ACADEMY - Mick Rooney (Recital)


This is the first time I have put together an extract and recital from my debut novel Academy (2008). From chapter four - The Elevator and Cinema.

An extraordinary journey into fiction, surrealism, and some of the greatest artist and innovators of the past.

Leonardo Buonarroti works as a clerk for the region's Academy. The Academy is an all-controlling, totalitarian government ruling in every aspect of a citizen's life. Set against a snow-covered, post-war, apocalyptic landscape, this Orwellian novel sets an austere atmosphere of unease throughout, merging surrealism and historical documentary. It weaves a complex and fragmented journey, from the Great Siberian Explosion of 1908, to the lives of artists and inventors, including, da Vinci, Von Zeppelin and the Russian explorer, Kulik. On his journey from the Academy to the Underground, Leonardo discovers the lies and truths in his own life.

 

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