Nebula Awards Best Novel (nominee)
Publisher's Weekly
Shiner begins this novel realistically in a contemporary Mexico where Rolling Stone reporter John Carmichael has been drawn in his search for news, and anthropologist Thomas Yates has come to search for his missing brother, rock musician Eddie. Eventually, they meet among the ancient Mayan ruins where Eddie has gone on a pilgrimage with the Mayan descendants among whom he now lives. There, while trapped between Cuban backed insurgents and a clandestine American force, Eddie pursues his experiments with mushrooms. He claims that instead of psychedelic visions, they actually transport him back in time to his own past and to the great days of Mayan culture. Although well written and occasionally thoughtful, the narrative, whose opening reminds one of warmed-over Robert Stone, moves to fulfill the cliched apocalyptic aspirations of the title. (August)
Library Journal
An anthropologist and his alienated brother reunite in a Mexico torn apart by earthquakes and revolution to reenact an ancient Mayan myth of the end of the world in this surrealistic fantasy by the author of Frontera . Shiner captures the complexities of both modern and ancient reality in a story that should appeal to general as well as fantasy audiences. Recommended. JC
Shiner begins this novel realistically in a contemporary Mexico where Rolling Stone reporter John Carmichael has been drawn in his search for news, and anthropologist Thomas Yates has come to search for his missing brother, rock musician Eddie. Eventually, they meet among the ancient Mayan ruins where Eddie has gone on a pilgrimage with the Mayan descendants among whom he now lives. There, while trapped between Cuban backed insurgents and a clandestine American force, Eddie pursues his experiments with mushrooms. He claims that instead of psychedelic visions, they actually transport him back in time to his own past and to the great days of Mayan culture. Although well written and occasionally thoughtful, the narrative, whose opening reminds one of warmed-over Robert Stone, moves to fulfill the cliched apocalyptic aspirations of the title. (August)
Library Journal
An anthropologist and his alienated brother reunite in a Mexico torn apart by earthquakes and revolution to reenact an ancient Mayan myth of the end of the world in this surrealistic fantasy by the author of Frontera . Shiner captures the complexities of both modern and ancient reality in a story that should appeal to general as well as fantasy audiences. Recommended. JC
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Used availability for Lewis Shiner's Deserted Cities of the Heart
Hardback Editions
May 1988 : USA Hardback
Paperback Editions
November 2009 : USA Paperback
October 1991 : USA Paperback
February 1989 : USA Mass Market Paperback
July 1988 : UK Paperback
Kindle Editions
August 2019 : UK Kindle edition
Title: Deserted Cities of the Heart
Author(s): Lewis Shiner
Publisher: Head of Zeus
Availability: Amazon UK
June 2011 : USA Kindle edition
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Title: Deserted Cities of the Heart
Author(s): Lewis Shiner
Publisher: Subterranean Press
Availability: Amazon