"An extravaganza . . . fertile invention and forceful style . . . Mr. Kersh's many admirers will undoubtedly devour this highly flavoured hotch-potch with avidity." - Julian Maclaren-Ross, <i>Sunday Times</i>
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"[F]irst-rate Kersh, richly peopled with the odd bit roles he sketches so well and written with style and individuality." - Anthony Boucher, <i>New York Herald Tribune</i>
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"Sometimes funny, sometimes nightmarish, always first-class entertainment." -
Basil Davenport, <i>New York Times</i>
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Journalist George Oaks and his friend Albert Kemp, a mystery novelist, are on their way to meet their friend, the celebrated philosopher Dr. Monacelli. But when a clerical mix-up leads to their meeting the American gangster Monty Cello instead, Oaks and Kemp quickly find themselves caught up in a bizarre and dangerous plot involving a murdered reporter, a missing scientist, and a group of powerful madmen with a plan to destroy the world as we know it. It's a race against time as Oaks and Kemp must infiltrate the villains' stronghold and save humanity before it's too late!
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Equal parts hard-boiled crime novel and apocalyptic science fiction tale, <i>The Great Wash</i> (1953) is one of the most exciting novels by Gerald Kersh (1911-1968), who is best known for his classics <i>Night and the City</i> (1938) and <i>Fowlers End</i> (1957). <i>Fowlers End</i> and four volumes of Kersh's strange and brilliant short fiction are also available from Valancourt.