''Slow Chocolate Autopsy: Incidents from the Notorious Career of Norton, Prisoner of London'' is a
1997
File:1997 Events Collage.png, From left, clockwise: The movie set of ''Titanic'', the highest-grossing movie in history at the time; ''Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone'', is published; Comet Hale-Bopp passes by Earth and becomes one of t ...
novel
A novel is a relatively long work of narrative fiction, typically written in prose and published as a book. The present English word for a long work of prose fiction derives from the for "new", "news", or "short story of something new", itsel ...
by
Iain Sinclair and illustrated by
Dave McKean
David McKean (born 29 December 1963) is an English illustrator, photographer, comic book artist, graphic designer, filmmaker and musician. His work incorporates drawing, painting, photography, collage, found objects, digital art, and sculpt ...
. It concerns Norton who is trapped in space, within London's city limits, but not in time.
Plot summary
The book is in twelve parts, each one featuring Norton (nine of which are in the form of stories and three as a mixture of illustrations and
photo-strips). His adventures include participating in the death of
Christopher Marlowe
Christopher Marlowe, also known as Kit Marlowe (; baptised 26 February 156430 May 1593), was an English playwright, poet and translator of the Elizabethan era. Marlowe is among the most famous of the Elizabethan playwrights. Based upon the ...
, the
Ripper murders, as well as more recent events that have shaped London.
Genre
The book can be considered an example of
psychogeography
Psychogeography is the exploration of urban environments that emphasizes interpersonal connections to places and arbitrary routes. It was developed by members of the Letterist International and Situationist International, which were revolutiona ...
, which explores the specific effects of the geographical environment on the emotions and behavior of individuals.
In other media
Comics
Iain Sinclair's friend
Alan Moore has included the character of Andrew Norton, the Prisoner of London, in ''
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century''.
Jess Nevins' annotations to ''The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Volume III: Century'' (see notes for pages 34 and 38)
/ref> The character's physical appearance here is based on that of Sinclair himself.
References
{{Reflist
External links
1997 British novels
Works by Ian Sinclair
Novels set in London