Author's Note:
Who's Afraid of Fair New World?
Fair New World
is so politically incorrect that no publisher in
New York, London or Toronto has had the courage
to bring it out. No literary agent has had the guts
to represent it, and no producer has had the vision
to film the screenplay. So far.
I founded Backlash
Books and published the first edition of Fair
New World myself, in 1994. It swiftly sold
out, undergound.
Since 1999, my popular
non-fiction books have become international bestsellers,
and yet the publishing world is still afraid of
Fair New World.
Fair New World
was recently "discovered" by a Chomskyite
(i.e. liberal fascist) blogger. Even though he is
in total denial (or has no conception) of the cultural
carnage wrought by political correctness, he was
so smitten by the synopsis of Fair New World
(below, on this page) that he felt compelled to
write a very interesting blog about it:
Lou
Tafler was my alter-ego for this
satirical novel. "Tafler"
is my mother's maiden name, so I come by it as honestly
as "Marinoff."
"It's the most politically
incorrect work of art I have ever seen. It's also
hilariously funny and scathingly insightful."
-- Karen
Selick, Canadian Lawyer, March 1995
"Tafler's book attempts
to depict how a politically correct world would actually
appear. To the casual reader some of these excursions
may appear too bizarre to be taken seriously. The
truth, however, is more disturbing. Fair New World
satirizes the actual daily life in a growing number
of North American universities."
-- David
Smith, SAFS Newsletter, July 1995
"Fair New World .
. . is so outrageously politically incorrect that
most publishers would probably be afraid to put their
imprint on it. This is high praise, indeed."
-- Karen
Selick, Balance, Spring 1995
"Readers will recognize
in Feminania both stereotypical femininity and stereotypical
feminism--but the latter rings soberingly true. Using
a mixture of pathetic, hilarious, and frightening
excesses of feminism, Tafler successfully and most
readably extrapolates current sexual correctness trends
into the future . . . this finely written book gives
one much to laugh and cry about, all the while absorbing
the reader and conveying a potent political message.
It is highly recommended."
-- Joseph
Fulda, Sexuality and Culture, Autumn 1997
"Fair New World is
a political novel focused on the war between the sexes.
Its genre is obviously that of Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four
and Huxley's Brave New World--and it stands comparison
to these classics in its style, depth and satirical
wit . . . The first society, Feminania, is dominated
by feminism-run-amok. The second, Bruteland, embodies
extreme 'machismo' values (reminiscent of certain
American cities). And the third, Melior, outlines
Tafler's vision of social sanity . . . Elements of
deliciously taboo-smashing realism grade into a relentlessly
detailed surrealism which, more than once, takes the
reader over the edge of the politically unthinkable
and unsayable. It may be a nightmare into which we
plunge, but it is a poignantly contemporary nightmare.
This book just may wake some people up--if anything
can."
--
Kurt Preinspurg, Philosophy Department, Vancouver
Community College
Fair New World is
an acerbic political nightmare satirizing . . . a
war whose scars are teethmarks at the center of Eden's
sour apple, here reconstituted along the lines of
Swift, Orwell and Vonnegut: marinated in three times
its volume of acid royal.
-- Michael
Godfrey, English Department, Dawson College, Montreal
Fair New World is
a novel that manages marvellously to be serious, alarming
and funny all at the same time . . . Swiftian in the
savagery of its humour, which is directed at the veryreal
and present dangers inherent in radical feminism and
political correctness running amok, with the possibility
of an extremist and fascistic "masculinist" reaction
lurking in the dark corners. Tafler reduces to absurdity
current cultural tendencies by pushing them to their
utmost logical--and irrational--development. The most
alarming feature of the book is the insanely and sytematically
feminized language of Feminania, the feminist utopia,
he limns so amusingly . . . After reading it for a
few pages it suddenly begins to seem so natural that
one ceases to have recourse to the glossary at the
back of the book. Now that's really scary.
-- Donald
Todd, Professor Emeritus of Philosophy, Simon Fraser
University
". . . a Swiftian
combination of a utopian and dystopian vision . .
. Tafler brings into play an abundance of invention,
verbal ebullience and wit. These, together with an
eye for and relish in the absurd and ridiculous, serve
his anger as he satirizes the excesses of feminism
and political correctness of the con-temporary scene
. . . The best part of this book is the sheer and
abundant ingenuity that went into devising the culture
and institutions of Feminania and Bruteland, as well
as the unfolding drama of their secret relations with
each other that culminate in a war . . . Tafler
characterizes the excesses of affirmative action and
political correctness as irrational and vicious efforts
to reverse rather than right past wrongs . . .Without
men, women become travesties of themselves . . ."
-- Kay
Stockholder, Professor Emerita of English Literature,
University of British Columbia
Synopsis of Fair New World
Fair New
World is a political
and sexual satire, set in the year 2084. As its title
and date imply, it plays changes on both Brave New
World and Nineteen Eighty-Four. Through a series of
revealing vignettes, Fair
New World portrays
three fictitious polities: two dystopias, called Feminania
and Bruteland, and a utopia called Melior. The narrative
affords glimpses of the outrageous institutions within
each state, and gradually discloses the secret relations
and tensions which obtain among them.
Feminania is ruled
by militant sexist sows, who have reduced men to figurative
and literal eunuchs. Feminanians speak a language
called "Fairspeak", which is English absurdly purged
of all male lexemes. Every conceivable offense against
women, whether real or imagined or instigated, is
catalogued as "gendercrime". The GEQUAPO (Gender Equality
Police) and their hordes of Brown Skirts maintain
a constant vigil against offenders, who are sentenced
to the BREAST (Behavioral Rehabilitation, Empathy
And Sensitivity Training). The sex-life of rank-and-file
Feminanians is confined to the realm of virtual reality,
while their rulers (the Femininny Party) conduct shocking
biological experiments, and maintain a clandestine
commerce with hated Bruteland.
Bruteland is governed
by male chauvinist swine, who have reduced females
to slavery and property. Bruteland's parliament--the
Brutestag--has outlawed female children and has institutionalized
rape. The religious mythology of Bruteland, contained
in "The Brutestament", is written in "High Brutish":
that is, pig-Latin. The Brutish deity ("Odgay") celebrates
man's dominion over woman. Armed violence is rife
in Bruteland: hyper-macho men kill one another for
trifles. Bruteland exports machinery to Feminania,
in exchange for supposedly docile female slaves.
Feminanians and
Brutelanders alike share an ironic fear and loathing
of Melior: "Go to Melior!" is a popular expression
in both dystopias. Melior's rulers have wisely disseminated
disinformation about their utopia in order to distance
Melior from its dystopian neighbors. Melior is a radical
meritocracy, in which individual advancement depends
solely upon ability, and not at all upon gender. In
Melior, males and females co-exist on the basis of
a shared humanity, which encourages cultural equality
of the sexes while recognizing that biological differences
potentiate social divergencies. Political and sexual
machinations among the three states reach an apocalyptic
climax, culminating in a war between Feminania and
Bruteland, in which Melior judiciously intervenes.
Fair
New World is a savage yet poignant satire of
political correctness. It ridicules extremes of gender
discrimination and reverse-discrimination alike. It
sounds alarms about the dire consequences of politicizing
the eternal power struggle between the sexes. Fair
New World is a novel both for our time, and
for all times.
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