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Cover of The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman

The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman

Angela Carter (1972)

SubgenreMagical Realism
Age groupAdult 18+
Content ratingX
Pages (Standard (250-400))
Setting
CSM age18+
Goodreads3.72

Content levels

ViolenceModerate
Sexual contentExplicit
LanguageModerate

Protagonist archetypes

Quest

Synopsis

Desiderio, an employee of the city under a bizarre reality attack from Doctor Hoffman's mysterious machines, has fallen in love with Albertina, the Doctor's daughter. But Albertina, a beautiful woman made of glass, seems only to appear to him in his dreams. Meeting on his adventures a host of cannibals, centaurs and acrobats, Desiderio must battle against unreality and the warping of time and space to be with her, as the Doctor reduces Desiderio's city to a chaotic state of emergency - one ridden with madness, crime and sexual excess. A satirical tale of magic and sex, The Infernal Desire Machines of Doctor Hoffman is a dazzling quest for truth, love and identity.

Tags

Literary FictionSurrealismPhilosophical FictionExperimentalSatire