Acts of Levitation

Author: Laynie Browne

Publisher: Spuyten Duyvil (2002) 

Amelia has the ability to levitate. During her wanderings through dream galleries, costumed performances, and future libraries she meets Clara (an elusive photographer), Sebastion (part human, part lion) and a chorus of cynics who exist only in partial bodies. In this voyage into the illusion of identity, Laynie Browne serves us a psychological portrait of the creative act.

"This challenging first novel is a high-wire act of great beauty and invention. Part quest narrative, part ghost story, Acts of Levitation is ultimately a study in longing—for the “other” who might be lover or sibling, and for the “self” hidden in the center of a dream. Laynie Browne enlists all the colors of the spectrum, and then some, to spin her magic. Her writing unfolds like a pre-Raphaelite dawn, expanding outwards and always mesmerizing."

–Lewis Warsh

"An ultra femme, absolutely exquisite writing/vision. Acts is extraordinarily imaginative and remains with me as a luminous benchmark."

–Lissa Wolsak

"Part mystery and part Oz story, Acts is a narrative of exquisite disappearances and re-appearances . . . As always, Laynie Browne’s work is ephemeral, complex, and alluring."

–Lisa Jarnot