Leyden Ltd.
Luis Sagasti
FICTION | 2019 | 112 pages
By definition, a footnote offers additional information—it's commonly said that they're meant for curious readers, those interested in minute details or supplementary reading. But when the thing that we think of as the "main text" is missing and the only thing available are its footnotes, how do we read?
Using only footnotes, Luis Sagasti sets out to reconstruct the story of Leyden Ltd.—a secret fraternity for some, a micro-nation for others, an adventure that is impossible to corroborate for many others—in this book. In order to do so, he investigates Paul Wilkes—the factotum for this particular company—from his birth in the midst of World War II and his youth in the sixties to his uncertain present: a life tainted by fascinating conspiracy theories.
The remnants of a personal diary, eccentric ramblings, testimonies from former members ("It was a phase," declared artist Jenny Holzer with regards to her active participation in Leyden Ltd.), never-before-shared photographs, and exclusive revelations ("The letter J is not featured in the periodic table") make Leyden Ltd. a book that is as impossible to classify as it is unforgettable.
RIGHTS: spanish ETERNA CADENCIA | english CHARCO PRESS | portuguese (brazil) MOINHOS
“Everything about this book, starting with its form, tends to converge in the lack of existence—or better yet, in the ambiguous existence of that which is present through its absence.”
BY LUIS SAGASTI:
Leyden Ltd.
FICTION, 2019
Una ofrenda musical
FICTION, 2017
Maelstrom
FICTION, 2015
Bellas artes
FICTION, 2013
Perdidos en el espacio
ESSAYS, 2011
Los mares de la luna
FICTION, 2006
El canon de Leipzig
FICTION, 1999