The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman (Magill’s Guide to Science Fiction and Fantasy Literature)
At a glance:
- Author: Angela Carter
- First Published: 1972
- Type of Work: Novel
- Type of Plot: Fantasy—Magical Realism
- Time of Work: Undefined
- Setting: Various locations on Earth
- Genres: Long fiction, Magical Realism, Fantasy
- Subjects: Assassins, hit men, or contract killers, Earth, Circuses or carnivals
- Locales: Earth
The Plot
Desiderio, an old man, tells the story of the Great War between reason and unreason in which, fifty years earlier, he played a heroic role. The war begins when Dr. Hoffman’s infernal desire machine destroys the forces of reason in the Capital and installs a world of desire. The Capital’s ruler, the minister of determination, sends his twenty-four-year-old aide, Desiderio, to destroy Hoffman and his machine. Desiderio, already unconsciously desirous of Hoffman’s daughter, Albertina, sets off on a quest that is both heroic and romantic.
At his first...
[The entire page is 954 words long]
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