Product Description

Amidst competing claims of beauty, truth and goodness, Trajan, a young man named after a once celebrated Roman Emperor, attempts to decipher why it is that Kant is wrong, love is capricious, and why you should never take advice from a puppet. In this fictionalized diatribe against modern accounts of Eros, York explores the interconnections between love, death, and philosophy. The author follows various philosophical and theological meditations as espoused through the musing of several hedonistic college students as they attempt to navigate the world conferred upon them. Their desire for consistency lays bare the disconcerting conclusion that our current conception of love as yearning can only, logically, end in death.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1105585 in Books
• Published on: 2008-10-15
• Binding: Paperback
• 112 pages

About the Author
Tripp York, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor of Religious Studies at Elon University, in Elon, NC. His writings have been published in various magazines and journals, and his first book, The Purple Crown: The Politics of Martyrdom, details the history and theology behind the practice of Christian martyrdom. An actor and a lighting designer, York resides in his hometown of Burlington, NC with his Siberian husky who keeps him, begrudgingly, in good shape. Anesthesia is his first work of fiction.

Customer Reviews

Recently dumped? It could always be worse...
This quick little read was worth the somewhat hefty price-tag. Given that I re-read several of the short chapters I feel got my money's worth. It's a pretty funny yet straight take on how we view romance and how destructive it can be. York weaves everything from philosophy to religion, Hooters to comic books, and 50's music to problems of sex and race, in his attempt to sacrifice (or pay homage to?) the resurrected god Eros. The story is told as a first-person memoir through the lens of a conflicted college student in love with a homicidal/suicidal wanna-be-Joan of Arc of romance. The characters, as a whole, are smart and witty, though the author is short on his description of them (as the one telling the story even admits).

I think the plus side of this book is that you will want to re-read as it provides much food for thought without coming across as pretentious. The only negative side, and hence my 4 starred-review, is that the price is a bit inflated (I'm guessing that is the publisher's fault not the author's) and I would like to have more knowledge of the main two characters, Trajan and Anna. Again, that may have been done by design, and I guess my wanting more from them is a good thing.

Bloody Brilliant
Anesthesia: A Brief Reflection is a literary dream covered by all the awkwardness of a college student surrounded by relationships and sex. Symbolism, motifs, and parallels are eloquently piled atop one another, making reading it just once impossible. Every concept, thought, and philosophy imaginable are represented in some form in this book. From feminism, in the form of a Hooter's wing comparison, to the mysteries of Fate, all bases are covered. "Deep" barely scratches the surface of this novella. Each chapter begins with a witty quote that explodes the mind before the chapter even begins. A definite MUST read!

messed up, awesome, and messed up
Okay, so this book is freakin' great. Seriously. The whole Holden Caulfield inner monologue thing tinged with the writing style of Chuck Palahniuk is the perfect recipe for excellent writing. This book narrates the college scene for what it is (which is why everyone goes and enjoys it) as well as slicing through the shallow nature of our society as especially found in Hooters and college classrooms. Just how he writes his sentences in order to see in the narrators head is so helpful for how to think about the 1.2 billion things he thinks about in the course of this very short book. It's a definite must read. Very funny, very clever, and a tad bit sick.