There are epic novels and then there is The Logos. Mark de Silva returns to fiction writing, following his debut, Square Wave (Two Dollar Radio), with a novel so full of ambition, lyricism and philosophical underpinnings that it is Proustian in its ambition and scope, exploring what it means to be a working artist in the 21st century with clever poignancy. With a career in academia and writing for the Opinionator (NyTimes), de Silva shows his intellectual scope is boundless. He’s woven a t...

American democracy is on its knees. The upcoming election could well be the last and the nation is braced for internal conflict.Meanwhile, on urban patrol, a nightwatchman discovers the latest in a series of prostitutes beaten and left for dead by a mysterious assailant.Meanwhile, his research into his family's past leads him to Sri Lanka under colonialism, with all its echoes of factional divisions and authoritarian rule.Meanwhile, his colleague is implicated in a ...

Unemployed, lonesome, abandoned by his lover, an obscure artist on the verge of despair begins to question the worth of his craft-until, without warning, he lands the opportunity of a lifetime. Courted by a wealthy patron with enigmatic motives, he yields his talents to corporate interests. In theory, his brief is to sell his soul-to mastermind a publicity campaign for a line of products designed to enhance human perception. In practice, though, he exerts sway over the souls of others. Giv...

In this collage of critical reflections, written in the tradition of the short essay running through Francis Bacon and Roland Barthes, the novelist, philosopher, and former New York Times Opinion staffer Mark de Silva looks into matters of both common curiosity and special concern in America today: technological evolution, virtuality, terrorism, the future of the self, the individual's place in a globalized society, the species' place in the natural world, the state of the arts, and the an...