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As
the new millennium begins, the world is a sorry sight. Wars are
erupting, totalitarianism is on the rise, AIDS is spreading like a
wildfire, poverty is increasing, terrorist networks abound and people,
in their billions, are threatening existence itself. Yet George Ringo,
the accidentally elected new Pope from Lower Fasso, is not only inept,
but also too inexperienced with the Byzantine world of Vatican
politics to introduce radical solutions.
So whom does
God turn to for help? Noah Archer, a data analyst and computer buff
from California. Unfortunately, Noah comes with baggage and proves
less than ideal for the job. Archangel Wong, and Women Against Men, a
radical lesbian group left over from the ‘60s, bedevil the plot.
Satirical and
intelligent, Barry Kalb’s debut novel
Cleaning House
is a hilarious look at the times in which we live and a disturbing
re-statement of the old adage that power corrupts and absolute power
corrupts absolutely.
Barry Kalb is
a former CBS correspondent in Asia who joined
Time
Magazine in Eastern Europe at the time of the Solidarity movement in
Poland. He then transferred to Rome, where he covered Italian
terrorism and politics and the attempted assassination of the Pope. He
has made Hong Kong his home since 1985.
Critics Comments
Barry Kalb, originally a journalist who has worked for
CBS and Time and later owner of Marco Polo Pizza, has written a
cynical debut novel about the cataclysmic state of the world. It’s a
good thing that the main character of Cleaning House, computer
whiz Noah Archer hasn’t heard of SARS or the Iraq war, because AlDS,
terrorism and radical lesbian groups are already enough to make him
want to seriously cut down on the world population. But even with a
message from God and help from Archangel Wong, Noah finds himself
spinning out of control as he finds more and more that he wants to
destroy Part Jonathan Swift, part Biblical allegory, part modern-day
commentary this twisted and sometimes offensive satire is a refreshing
entry among Hong Kong’s usual politically correct literary offerings.
Joyce Hor-Chung
Lou, HK Magazine
Readers Comments
Extract
Copyright © Barry Kalb
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