{"product_id":"public-access-afterworld-a-delirious-reality-warping-fever-dream-of-a-novel-josh-silver-author-of-fruit-fly-9781399747363","title":"Public Access Afterworld: \"A delirious, reality-warping fever dream of a novel\" Josh Silver, author of FRUIT FLY","description":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eWelcome to \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld, \u003c\/i\u003ethe profound, read-through-the-night, headrush of a novel by an undeniable new voice in contemporary fiction.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eHow far would you go to bring back the only person who ever felt like home?\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e'A riot in novel form by an author with an utterly singular, original vision. \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e will leave you breathless and desperate for a sequel'\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003eKALIANE BRADLEY, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Ministry of Time\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e'Jane Schoenbrun has the literary voice I've been famished for. \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e gave me a vertiginous thrill I haven't encountered since David Mitchell'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eTORREY PETERS, author of \u003ci\u003eStag Dance\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eDetransition, Baby\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e'I stayed up all night binge-reading . . . Adroitly beautiful, funny, and scathing'\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eSENLINYU, author of \u003ci\u003eAlchemised\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eOn 12th June 2009, David Sawyer and Erin Morrison, two lonely, TV-obsessed suburban teens who might be falling in love, gather in Erin's basement to watch TV's analogue-to-digital transition. Beneath the static that follows, Erin catches a glimpse of a mysterious broadcast from a TV network called 'Public Access Afterworld'. Soon after that, she vanishes - changing the trajectory of David's life forever.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eFourteen years later, Bethany Peters toils through the night shift at megacorp GlobalVill's bleak Austin campus. A trans content moderator, she spends her evenings reviewing an endless stream of horrific videos. But gradually a pattern emerges in the form of a young streamer, Jules, calling out the same words: Public Access Afterworld.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003cb\u003eWhen Bethany sets out to rescue Jules, she begins an epic journey that sweeps from rural Texas to 1940s Los Alamos - and all the way back to that basement where David and Erin first encountered a world at the edges of reality itself.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003ch4\u003eDetails\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cp\u003eISBN13: 9781399747363\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFormat: Paperback \/ softback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eNumber of Pages: 608\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eEdition: \u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication Date: 27 Oct 2026\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublisher: Hodder \u0026amp; Stoughton\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003ePublication City, Country: United Kingdom\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDimensions (cm): 23.2(H)x15.4(L)x5(W)716\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWeight (gm): 716\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch4\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003eJane Schoenbrun\u003c\/b\u003e is an award-winning filmmaker and writer. Their films include \u003ci\u003eI Saw the TV Glow\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eWe're All Going to the World's Fair\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma\u003c\/i\u003e, starring Gillian Anderson and Hannah Einbinder. \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is their first novel.\u003ch4\u003eReviews\u003c\/h4\u003e\u003cb\u003eA riot in novel form by an author with an utterly singular, original vision. \u003c\/b\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e will leave you breathless and desperate for a sequel -- Kaliane Bradley, author of THE MINISTRY OF TIME\u003cbr\u003eRead this. It's \u003cb\u003ea delirious, reality-warping fever dream of a novel\u003c\/b\u003e, just the way we like them -- Josh Silver, author of FRUIT FLY\u003cbr\u003eJane Schoenbrun has\u003cb\u003e the literary voice I've been famished for\u003c\/b\u003e. \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e gave me \u003cb\u003ea vertiginous thrill I haven't encountered since David Mitchell\u003c\/b\u003e; the kind of epic book that doesn't just warp reality on the page but goes on warping when you look up - \u003cb\u003eyou read it and the world glints with secrets anew.\u003c\/b\u003e -- Torrey Peters, author of STAG DANCE and DETRANSITION, BABY\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld \u003c\/i\u003eis \u003cb\u003ean immersive and chilling journey that I stayed up all night binge-reading\u003c\/b\u003e. Schoenbrun's skill and confidence as a storyteller are made clear by the deft way they play with both genre and form as the book bends and warps across time and mediums. \u003cb\u003eAdroitly beautiful, funny, and scathing, \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is a book from a talented storyteller with much to say, who's not afraid to say it\u003c\/b\u003e -- SenLinYu, #1 New York Times bestselling author of ALCHEMISED\u003cbr\u003eIn Jane Schoenbrun's electric \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld \u003c\/i\u003ethe American dream is refracted through the lens of the history of television to show its true nightmare self. \u003cb\u003eThrilling, heart-wrenching, hilarious, visionary, and so damned smart, this novel is a major work from a major talent\u003c\/b\u003e -- Paul Tremblay, author of A HEAD FULL OF GHOSTS and DEAD BUT DREAMING OF ELECTRIC SHEEP\u003cbr\u003eConstantly yanking the magical carpet out from under the reader's feet, this epic quest for the source of all television is\u003cb\u003e psychedelic horror of the first order\u003c\/b\u003e -- Grady Hendrix, author of WITCHCRAFT FOR WAYWARD GIRLS\u003cbr\u003eAn epic TV show wrapped inside a novel wrapped inside our reality and maybe every other reality there ever was, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is a 600 page shot of sheer adrenaline, as exhilarating as it is addictive\u003c\/b\u003e... Jane Schoenbrun is \u003cb\u003eone of modern horror's most distinctive, confident voices\u003c\/b\u003e and the fact that they're as adept at bringing their vision to the page as they are to the screen is both dazzling and infuriating -- Will Maclean, author of SOLACE HOUSE\u003cbr\u003eA thriller unlike any other. Strange, urgent, utterly hypnotic - once you start reading \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld,\u003c\/i\u003e you won't stop -- Lev Grossman, #1 New York Times bestselling author of THE MAGICIANS\u003cbr\u003eSuch a compulsive read. Dark and glittering and full of static. Huzzah. Neon sign: So, so much fun -- Helen Macdonald, author of H IS FOR HAWK\u003cbr\u003eDavid Lynch-y . . . [\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e] is weird and creepy and unsettling . . . Rife with questions about trans identity and how pop culture plays into how you think about yourself and see yourself in the world -- Fall Book Preview * New York Times Book Review podcast *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eNo synopsis can possibly convey the weird, full-hearted wonder of Jane Schoenbrun's electrifying first novel, but one must try\u003c\/b\u003e . . . Schoenbrun has written a doozy of a debut that reimagines the Orpheus myth for our hypermediated age . . . Schoenbrun has an almost preternatural talent for rendering characters . . . \"Find the receiver. Make it real,\" the novel urges. An entire generation may have found a receiver in \u003cb\u003ethis revelation of a book.\u003c\/b\u003e Schoenbrun has called together the dreams and tribulations of a dimension of peoples - long erased, long maligned, too often brutalized, heroically resisting - and made them real. * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eAn action-packed, immensely readable sci-fi epic with a serrated edge . . . \u003cb\u003eessential reading for fans of any of [Schoenbrun's] films .\u003c\/b\u003e . . It's a gift seeing Schoenbrun's work in a specifically novelistic format, as text requires more candour and exposition than film. The novel is their most explicitly trans and political work, but it's also just their widest-reaching . . . It offers a rare chance to see them at their highest level of creative control. * DAZED *\u003cbr\u003eThis genre-bending epic about transition and connection has a cultish appeal sure to garner devoted fans. Think Stranger Things, \u003ci\u003eCloud Atlas\u003c\/i\u003e or \u003ci\u003eA Visit to the Good Squad . . . \u003c\/i\u003e\u003cb\u003e[a] startlingly inventive fiction debut\u003c\/b\u003e * The Bookseller *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eDazzling and politically acute, Schoenbrun's debut announces a major literary voice\u003c\/b\u003e -- starred review * Kirkus *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOf all their work to this point, \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003e feels like the most unfettered, freed up\u003c\/b\u003e to be as far-reaching as they'd like without any thought to what it would cost to stage everything for the camera (though they'd still like to make a screen version someday). \u003cb\u003eThe novel is Schoenbrun turned loose to remix and run wild\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld \u003c\/i\u003easks whether the systems we're so resigned to living under are worth saving when they can only exist by grinding up the vulnerable. * Vulture *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is a fever dream-esque love letter to television, the internet, science fiction, and nerds * Reactor *\u003cbr\u003ePaying homage to classic horror movies and late-night television, filmmaker Schoenbrun debuts with \u003cb\u003ea dazzling story\u003c\/b\u003e about a mysterious TV channel that might be broadcasting from another dimension . . . Throughout, \u003cb\u003eSchoenbrun tackles big ideas with feather-light humor, and they perfectly channel their characters' obsession with the small screen . . .\u003c\/b\u003e \u003cb\u003eIt's a great American novel of the 20th century's digital echoes\u003c\/b\u003e -- starred review * Publishers Weekly *\u003cbr\u003eThe mastermind behind I Saw the TV Glow is releasing their debut novel, and I couldn't be more excited. This is one to pre-order without even reading the publicity copy to hype you up * Debutiful *\u003cbr\u003eFollowing two basement teens who experience an extra-strange analog-to-digital transition - care of the pirate TV network that gives the novel its name - this one looks \u003cb\u003ethrillingly original\u003c\/b\u003e * Literary Hub *\u003cbr\u003eA debut that's bound to make a splash . . . A blend of sci-fi, queer coming of age, and literary horror, this is cinematic writing at its best -- Autumn Reading Picks * The Cold *\u003cbr\u003eThe writer\/director behind one of the year's most acclaimed films is poised to captivate readers as well with this electric, eerie, positively Schoenbrunian first novel * Boston Globe *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eIs there anything that Jane Schoenbrun can't do??\u003c\/b\u003e Three spectacular major motion pictures . . . and now \u003cb\u003ea debut novel that reads like a David Mitchell fever dream imagined by somebody working the last Blockbuster on the planet \u003c\/b\u003e. . . It is an ode to movies and moviemaking and the ineffable places from which story comes . . . But it is also a Lynchian fever dream about the dangers of our subconscious, about the raptures of discovering your \u003ci\u003eself\u003c\/i\u003e, and about how you should never ever trust a suit in matters of art. It's also just fucking \u003ci\u003efun\u003c\/i\u003e -- 34 Books You Need to Read This Fall * Literary Hub *\u003cbr\u003eThe first novel from \u003ci\u003eI Saw the TV Glow \u003c\/i\u003eand \u003ci\u003eTeenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma \u003c\/i\u003edirector Jane Schoenbrun explores the same themes of self discovery and weird television as their films. The genre-bending book spans three timelines and multiple realities as a group of outcasts try to uncover the mysteries of Public Access Afterworld -- 10 most anticipated sci-fi and fantasy books of fall 2026 * Polygon *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA cult classic in the making\u003c\/b\u003e -- 10 Titles Not to Miss in 2026 * The Bookseller *\u003cbr\u003e[A] harrowing mystery -- Biggest Books of Fall 2026 * Barnes and Noble *\u003cbr\u003eSchoenbrun's debut is a psychedelic work of genius -- Fall Fiction Preview * Newsday *\u003cbr\u003eA trip -- Six Big (Lit) Hitters for Autumn * Grazia *\u003cbr\u003eFilmmaker Schoenbrun makes their print debut with \u003cb\u003eone of the best novels of the year \u003c\/b\u003e. . . [An] existentially terrifying, David Lynchian horror -- starred review * Booklist *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eTriumphant \u003c\/b\u003e. . . This \u003cb\u003edeeply layered and captivating novel \u003c\/b\u003efollows two lonely, TV-obsessed suburban teens who become entranced by the mystery of a TV network called Public Access Afterworld . . . \u003cb\u003ePart fever dream and part love letter to the stories that forever change us\u003c\/b\u003e, \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is everything you could ever want from the immensely talented Schoenbrun -- 12 Must-Read Books of October * Chicago Review of Books *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003eJane Schoenbrun's mind-bending fiction debut screams\u003cb\u003e 'instant cult classic'\u003c\/b\u003e... Schoenbrun revels in horror and speculative elements, writing a multimedia mashup that reflects our destabilized world\u003c\/p\u003e -- Most Anticipated Books of Fall * TIME *\u003cbr\u003eSchoenbrun, the filmmaker behind the idiosyncratic horror movies \"Teenage Sex and Death at Camp Miasma\" and \"I Saw the TV Glow,\" imagines a television channel from another dimension in their debut novel. The dual narrative alternates between two suburban teens in 2009 and a trans content moderator in 2026, all of whom come across strange broadcasts that allude to a hidden and possibly dangerous world behind our own -- October Books * New York Times *\u003cbr\u003eA reality-warping epic about friendship, transformation, and the internet that stretches across decades and dimensions * New York Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eA filmmaker's intrepid debut . . . Unfolding over decades, it's a suburban sci-fi about a strange TV channel hidden in the static, taking their cinematic preoccupations and chasing them down over 600 pages -- Best New Books in October * Vulture *\u003cbr\u003eNever has a novel made me feel less like I was reading a book and more like I was living inside its strange, shifting world. \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e completely took over my brain, and I'm not sure I've fully come back yet -- Debuts to Read in October * Debutiful *\u003cbr\u003e\"Jane Schoenbrun is the one,\" so says Lena Dunham, and if you've seen the eerie, nostalgia-soaked brilliance of \u003ci\u003eI Saw the TV Glow\u003c\/i\u003e, you'll understand why. Now, \u003cb\u003ethe cult filmmaker is turning their singular vision to fiction \u003c\/b\u003ewith \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003cb\u003ea genre-defying debut that blurs the boundaries between literary fiction, horror and sci-fi\u003c\/b\u003e. The story begins in 2009, when two lonely teenagers discover a mysterious television broadcast on the night of America's analogue-to-digital switchover. One disappears, setting off a story that spans decades, identities and realities. -- The Agenda: October * Marie Claire *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eOne of the most anticipated novels of the year\u003c\/b\u003e . . . \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is already being heralded as \u003cb\u003ea spellbinding adventure\u003c\/b\u003e that's impossible to put down * DAZED *\u003cbr\u003eStructured like a binge-worthy miniseries, Schoenbrun's debut novel is the \u003cb\u003eepic, spine-chilling story\u003c\/b\u003e to help you settle into autumn's long nights -- Most Anticipated Queer Books for Fall 2026 * Electric Lit *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eA head rush of conspiracy, horror, and the strange static of analog televisions. \u003c\/b\u003eTV static and the quiet alienation of digital life - this is the space where Jane Schoenbrun thrives * Cultured *\u003cbr\u003eSchoenbrun's debut novel \u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea feat of worldbuilding\u003c\/b\u003e, split into 10 sections, or \"episodes,\" spanning seven decades and narrated by varied characters . . . The novel is \u003cb\u003ea masterful sci-fi epic\u003c\/b\u003e that turns the advent of television into a horrific, multi-dimensional conspiracy. * Marie Claire *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e reads like an updated version of \u003ci\u003eGood Omens \u003c\/i\u003eor the Terry Pratchett \u003ci\u003eDiscworld\u003c\/i\u003e novels - big epics of the everyday and the magical, slashed through with deep questions about existence and the nature of self -- A Closer Read * Harper's Bazaar *\u003cbr\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublic Access Afterworld\u003c\/i\u003e is \u003cb\u003ea must-read for anyone interested in the Schoenbrun project \u003c\/b\u003e. . . [and] a great example of why Schoenbrun's fans keep returning to their work . . . It's so vast in scope that it feels like one of those unadaptable Stephen King tomes, traveling backwards and forwards in time, through alternate dimensions, with an ensemble cast that brings a filmic perspective to every chapter * Polygon *\u003cbr\u003eA confirmation that Schoenbrun's worldbuilding skill is well beyond their peers, cinematic or literary * Salon *\u003cbr\u003eImpressive. . . A wholly original work that jumps between genres, timelines and realities as deftly as its narrative shifts from first person to second and third * A Rabbit's Foot *\u003cbr\u003eThis \u003cb\u003equeer, speculative, decade-hopping, profoundly witty sci-fi horror phantasmagoria\u003c\/b\u003e centers on a secret dimension on the other side of the static * Interview Magazine *\u003cbr\u003eAn expansive and wildly imaginative novel that veers between horror, satire, and a story of trans self-discovery * SFX *\u003cbr\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003ePraise for \u003ci\u003eI Saw the TV Glow\u003c\/i\u003e,  \u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ewritten and directed by Jane Schoenbrun\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e'Jane Schoenbrun was born to make cult classics' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGQ\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'An atmosphere so intoxicating, it feels less like the creation of a movie and more that of an entire world' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eGuardian\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'What's most effective, and staggering, is Schoenbrun's storytelling' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Jane Schoenbrun","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51528083308761,"sku":"9781399747363","price":34.99,"currency_code":"AUD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0502\/9530\/8441\/files\/9781399747363.jpg?v=1794035296","url":"https:\/\/www.arielbooks.com.au\/products\/public-access-afterworld-a-delirious-reality-warping-fever-dream-of-a-novel-josh-silver-author-of-fruit-fly-9781399747363","provider":"Ariel","version":"1.0","type":"link"}