III Robert P Fenton

Tokyo, Dream Machine III Robert P Fenton

"Shyness is revenge for things you will never do."Absence haunts Ernest Humboldt's existence after his girlfriend, Aoko, leaves for New Zealand for a year-long English immersion program. Feeling rudderless, Ernest plunges into Tokyo's kaleidoscopic phantasmagoria, further dislodging himself from reality and meaning. Lost in Japan, but not in translation, the young sailor embarks on a series of absurd misadventures with his pal, Rodrigo Rivas. Combing grungy dive bars, bombastic love hotels, surreal streets, and everyday fast-food joints across Tokyo's urban sprawl, Ernest's journey forces him to confront absences in his love life, of meaning, context, and the nature of presence itself. More than anything, Ernest searches for himself, for his place in the world, and for anything that might fill those resonant voids he encounters on his path. Robert P. Fenton's debut novel takes readers on a rapid-fire, melancholic, and sarcastic trip through the weaknesses and strengths of the human condition. Exploring life's inadequacy, nostalgia, loss, essence, and desire, Tokyo, Dream Machine delves deep into the social molasses and rich tapestry of Japanese everydayness. Based on his own experiences and observations, Fenton's text explodes with emotion and debasement, offering a critical examination on social relations after the End of History, where the present ceases to exist, and the past no longer tethers us to reality. Tokyo, Dream Machine is sure to resonate with those who suspect that the future is not all it has been chalked up to be, and maybe that's fine.