We mean, have you read the reviews?
Stuart Maconie, BBC Radio 6 Music: “A kaleidoscope of characters, jokes, theories and terrific writing.”
Stephen Morris, New Order: “Highly enjoyable AND educational. Can’t wait for the next volumes.”
Cathi Unsworth, author of Bad Penny Blues: “These books are a work of art. A compelling adventure, from eerie Devon cliffs to a haunted, history-riven Germany. Superb.”
Alan Warner, author of Morvern Callar: “Dark Lustre is one of my private delights at this time – like a linked series of secret caverns in a glorious pyramid. They are going to be collectors’ pieces so get them while you can.”
Luke Turner, Caught by the River: “Wonderful… hugely enjoyable… looks fantastic…”
Benjamin Myers, author of The Gallows Pole: “Roy Wilkinson’s lustre for life and pursuit of endless capers is intoxicating. Shaping up to be a madcap classic.”
Ian Harrison, MOJO: “A wild blend of occult whodunnit madness, plastic explosives and all-female rock action. Engrossing!”
John Doran, The Quietus: “Superb… giddy like Bill Drummond on West Country fly agaric.”
Richard J Foster, Louder Than War: “Entertaining… witty… inspiring…”
David Quantick: “Surreal, list-y, arcane, local – this is an extraordinary book.”
Marc Riley, BBC Radio 6 Music: “Thoroughly enjoying this sinewy work from Roy Wilkinson.”
Dark Lustre is a book by Roy Wilkinson, in six instalments. Made-up stuff but rooted in our contemporary world. The narrative moves from North Devon to Bavaria and Berlin. There is mystery and mortality, on the Devon cliffs and across continental Europe. Improvisational investigator Tommy Quantox seeks solutions – to localised enigma and to our past century’s most insidious red herring. Three women have formed an astonishing rock band. SS porcelain, energy drinks, the Siberian jay and uplifting human endeavour are all part of a story that is both elliptical and fiercely lucid. Roy also wrote the acclaimed Sea Power-themed book Do It For Your Mum, praised by The Guardian in 2011 as “The year’s finest memoir.”
Order Dark Lustre – all prices include P&P
ATTENTION LITERARY INVESTORS!
Dark Lustre is a limited edition, limited to a total of 667 sets – each consisting of six instalments. Surveyors of the current print landscape may be aware that Roy’s book Do It For Your Mum, published in an edition of 2,011 copies, is sought after and rarely appears for sale. When it does, DIFYM generally sells for a substantial increase on its original price. Dark Lustre, meanwhile, tells of sinister golden Alpine caches. The book itself is a SOLID GOLD INVESTMENT – as much as one can possibly say…
Each instalment features a new and different hand-fashioned cover image and the books are finished to a high standard; hand-numbered and hand-embossed; printed by TJ Books in Cornwall; typeset to exacting standards by the respected W Dickie of Endmoor; graphic jazz by Woody of Kendal and Sea Power; superbly executive-edited by Kevo of Sussex. Dark Lustre is available only via mail order – six 20,000-word instalments posted to your home or other address. With new orders, DL1 will be posted ASAP. The other instalments will follow at roughly monthly intervals.
Why an edition of 667? This figure is a kind of benign numerology – a spin on the band in the book, who are known as the Hextet. The figure 667 connects to the six of “Hextet”, but now made forever recurring. With a UK purchase price of £40 a set (including P&P), the price per Dark Lustre instalment is £6.666667…. The figure 667 is, of course, one better than the merely diabolical. Allow, then, this 667 hex to put a spell on you…
PRIZE RAFFLE
People buying Dark Lustre will become members of the DL667 Klüb. Everyone purchasing Dark Lustre will be included in a prize raffle – the prize being the original 48 x 36cm imagery that forms the basis for the book cover for the first instalment of Dark Lustre. This artwork – or, rather, Oppositional Interior Decor – is titled Morte Point: Please Don’t Let Us Die, Not While We’re Still Alive and can be viewed at this website’s Visuals page. The raffle will be drawn after Dark Lustre has sold out.
NB. PLEASE SIGN UP for the Roy Wilkinson mailing list – for news on future events and artefacts, all overseen by the wider umbrella organisation the Great South Western Intergenerational Cultural Outreach. Mailing-list sign-up is on this website’s home page.
NOTE: DL instalments will be posted by means of the delightful Royal Mail UK Standard and UK International Standard services – and will often come stuck with attractive UK commemorative stamps. With new orders, DL1 will be posted ASAP. The other instalments will follow at roughly monthly intervals.
DARK LUSTRE EXTRACT
The first instalment of Dark Lustre can be read below.
