You Bright and Risen Angels
{{short description|Book by William T. Vollmann}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=March 2025}}
{{Infobox book |
| name = You Bright and Risen Angels
| title_orig =
| translator =
| image = YouBrightAndRisenAngels.jpg
| caption = First UK edition
| author = William Vollmann
| illustrator =
| cover_artist = Foreground: Alfred Brehm, Eintagsfliege (Mayfly) from Brehms Tierleben- 1892
| country = United States
| language = English
| series =
| genre =
| published = 1987
| publisher = André Deutsch (UK)
Atheneum (US)
| media_type = Print (Hardcover and Paperback)
| pages = 704 pp
| isbn = 0-233-98022-9
| oclc = 14241374
| preceded_by =
| followed_by =
}}
You Bright and Risen Angels is a 1987 novel by William T. Vollmann, detailing a fictional war between insects and the forces of modern civilization. Vollmann described the book, his first, as "an allegory in part", inspired by his experiences with the mujahedeen in Afghanistan. The novel is subtitled "A Cartoon." It is illustrated by the author.
Writing and composition
Vollman did not have a literary agent when he submitted the manuscript of the book to publishers.{{cite magazine |last1=Bissell |first1=Tom |title=You Are Now Entering the Demented Kingdom of William T. Vollmann |url=https://newrepublic.com/article/118748/william-t-vollmanns-dangerously-uncorrupted-literary-mind |access-date=10 January 2021 |magazine=The New Republic |publisher=The New Republic |date=23 July 2014}} Vollman has said he used a "'writing by-the-yard' approach" to the novel and that it could have been "ten thousand pages longer".{{cite journal |last1=McCaffery |first1=Larry |date=Summer 1993 |title=A Conversation with William T Vollmann By Larry McCaffery |url=https://www.dalkeyarchive.com/2013/08/02/a-conversation-with-william-t-vollmann-by-larry-mccaffery/ |journal=The Review of Contemporary Fiction |volume=13 |issue=2 |access-date=10 January 2021}}
Reception
=Critical reception=
The novel received positive reviews from the New York Times, Publishers Weekly, and elsewhere when published.{{cite news |last1=Pool |first1=Gail |title='You Bright and Risen Angels' (Published 1987) |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1987/06/21/books/you-bright-and-risen-angels.html |access-date=10 January 2021 |work=The New York Times |date=21 June 1987}}{{cite news |title=Fiction Book Review: You Bright and Risen Angels: A Cartoon by William T. Vollmann, Author Atheneum Books $22.95 (635p) ISBN 978-0-689-11852-4 |url=https://www.publishersweekly.com/978-0-689-11852-4 |access-date=10 January 2021 |work=PublishersWeekly.com |publisher=Publishers Weekly |language=en}} Kirkus Reviews published a less positive review, comparing the book unfavorably to the work of Thomas Pynchon.{{cite news |title=Book Reviews, Sites, Romance, Fantasy, Fiction |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/william-t-vollmann-4/you-bright-and-risen-angels/ |access-date=10 January 2021 |work=Kirkus Reviews |publisher=Kirkus Reviews |date=27 May 1987 |language=en}}
=Honors=
References
{{reflist}}
{{William T. Vollman |state=collapsed}}
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Category:Fiction about insects
Category:Works by William T. Vollmann
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