David Mitchell's Post-Secular World

Since the publication of <i>Ghostwritten</i>(1999) David Mitchell has rapidly established himself as one of the most inventive and important British novelists of the 21st century. In this landmark study Rose Harris-Birtill reveals the extent to which Mitchell has created an interconnected fictional world across the full run of his writing. Covering Mitchell's complete fictions from bestselling novels such as <i>Cloud Atlas</i>(2004) <i>The Bone Clocks</i> (2014) and<i> number9dream</i>(2001) to his short stories and his libretti for the operas <i>Sunken Garden</i>and <i>Wake</i> this book examines how Buddhist influences inform the ethical worldview that permeates his writing. Using a comparative theoretical model drawn from the Tibetan mandala to map Mitchell's fictional world Harris-Birtill positions Mitchell as central to a new generation of post-secular writers who re-examine the vital role of belief in galvanizing action amidst contemporary ecological political and humanitarian crises.<br/> <br/> <i>David Mitchell's Post-Secular World</i> features two substantial new interviews with the author a chronology of his fictions and a selected bibliography of important critical writings on his work.