&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Question_book-new.svg){kind=small} | This article needs additional citations for verification. (October 2024) |
&sq=Envato&lang=en&file=File:Stark-cover.jpg) First edition cover | |
| Author | Ben Elton |
|---|---|
| Cover artist | David Scutt |
| Language | English |
| Genre | Dystopian fiction, Environmental Fiction |
| Publisher | Sphere Books |
Publication date | 1 January 1989 |
| Publication place | United Kingdom |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 496 |
| ISBN | 0-7474-0390-2 |
| Followed by | Gridlock (1991) |
Stark is a 1989 novel by comedian Ben Elton. It was commercially and critically successful in the United Kingdom and Australia. It was Elton's first novel, and launched his writing career. Stark was reprinted 23 times in its first year, and ultimately sold well over a million copies, making Elton one of a small number of novelists to sell more than a million copies of their first book.[1][2] The novel was adapted into Stark, a television miniseries.
It is a comedy with environmental themes. The comedy style has been compared with the literary works of Douglas Adams and Grant Naylor.[3] It is set mainly in Australia, in a dystopian near-future, and the lead protagonist is an expat Englishman. The story is told from the point of view of a large number of characters, and the point of view often temporarily shifts to that of an animal. Much of the early plot takes place in Carlton, a fictional town south of Perth, Western Australia. Most of the rest of the novel takes place in Kalgoorkatta and Bullens Creek, in the Western Australian desert. The final scene takes place at an unspecified location in outer space, perhaps on the Moon.
- ^ Ben Elton, Stark (Black Swan edition, 2006), Copyright notice.
- ^ Gilchrist, Jim: Doyle variety performance, The Scotsman, 9 July 2007
- ^ Illiterarty