Serpent - by Nicholas Mosley (Paperback)

Book Synopsis

The third installment in Nicholas Mosley's "Catastrophe Practice" series, Serpent is an unorthodox satire that "cracks a deadly serious joke about the human toll of noble ideas" (The New York Times).

Set almost entirely on a plane bound for Tel Aviv, Serpent follows a screenwriter named Jason and the producers, actors, and family members that accompany him on his journey to make a movie he no longer wants to make. In first class, Jason attempts to persuade his producer to abandon his improbable script about Masada, the fortress where a thousand Jews killed themselves rather than be taken prisoner by Romans in 73 A.D.; meanwhile, Jason's wife and young son contend with the small humiliations of a long flight in economy. As the plane approaches its destination, several disasters threaten at once, forcing Jason to confront his values and the efficacy of art. Interspersing excerpts of Jason's script with the chaos unfolding both on the plane and on the ground below, Serpent is an enduringly topical high-wire act of a novel that reads like an engrossing, fast-paced play.

About the Author

Nicholas Mosley was raised in London, England. He is the author of a dozen novels and a half-dozen works of non-fiction, including an acclaimed biography of his father, the late Sir Oswald Mosley, leader of the fascist party in England in the 1930s. Films have been made of two of his novels, Accident (using a screenplay by Harold Pinter and directed by Joseph Losey) and Impossible Object. Mosley passed away in London in 2017 at the age of 93.