First edition cover
|
|
Author | Shelley Jackson |
---|---|
Cover artist | Jacket design by Roberto de Vicq de Cumptich |
Country | United States |
Language | English |
Genre | Novel, alternate history |
Publisher | HarperCollins |
Publication date
|
July 25, 2006 |
Media type | Print (hardback & paperback) |
Pages | 440 pp (first edition, hardcover) |
ISBN | (first edition, hardcover) |
OCLC | 63165002 |
813/.54 22 | |
LC Class | PS3560.A2448 H35 2006 |
Half Life is the 2006 debut novel of American writer and artist Shelley Jackson. The novel presupposes an alternate history in which the atomic bomb resulted in a genetic preponderance of conjoined twins, who eventually become a minority subculture.
The book tells the story of a disenchanted conjoined twin named Nora Olney who plots to have her twin murdered.
Half Life received mixed-to-positive reviews; Newsweek called it "brilliant and funny," and The New York Times, while praising Jackson's ambition as "truly glorious," added that "All this razzle-dazzle, all the allusions, [and] the narrative loop-de-loops [get] a bit busy." It won the 2006 James Tiptree, Jr. Award for science fiction and fantasy.