More about the release6 Notes
-|- "I HAVE WITHIN ME THE ENTIRE AGE OF IMAGE" -|-
Watch digital native, Warhol, watch us watch him shatter the screen that mediates modern life. Through a dizzying collage of texts, chats, lyrics, and code, Warhol confronts the all-consuming influence of technology on art, love, and identity. From frenzied online hookups to zoom calls, from soulless corporate consultancy to impending climate catastrophe, Warhol searches for his lost love, Bea, within every image on his phone. As he endures the blurred lines between digital and physical reality, he questions the very nature of authenticity and human connection.
Incisive, audacious, and darkly funny, A Phone of the Artist as a Young Man is a searing critique of our hyperconnected world, a literary hand grenade lobbed into the heart of the digital dystopia we've built for ourselves. With his electrifying debut novel, Pierce Day announces himself as a bold new voice in modern literature, one that fearlessly probes the depths of our digitally defined lives and challenges us to imagine a future beyond the infinite scroll.
Part punk manifesto, part modernist love story, this book is a must-read for anyone who's ever stared into the black mirror of their phone screen and wondered what it means to be human in an age of ones and zeros.
Release Notes (6)
Three sentence summary
A young writer destroys his closest friendship for the sake of his art, sending him into a spiral of digital obsession and regret that he chronicles through his iPhone. Structured around 18 phone functions (Face ID, Screen Protector, Volume Buttons, etc.), the novel follows his descent as he tries to process his guilt through increasingly experimental prose. From streaming social media feeds to AI language models to New Zealand folklore to emojis to python script, it's a modernist novel for the digital age that asks whether authentic human connection is possible in a world mediated by screens, algorithms and artificial intelligence.
About the author
Pierce Day is a New Zealand author, now based in Dublin, deeply invested in interrogating the systems and structures that define contemporary existence. He is a cultural critic, literary innovator, and provocateur who uses his work to challenge readers intellectually and emotionally. While his style and ideas may alienate some, they solidify Day as a significant voice in the intersection of literature, technology, and philosophy.
Metalabel Author Interview with Rayna Holmes
At the tail end of last year, something magical happened—a young writer named Pierce Day from New Zealand published his first-ever work: a hefty novel exploring one man's complete and utter obsession with his phone and curating his outward perception. There's nothing quite like witnessing a creator's debut. When Pierce's book arrived in our mailbox, what surprised us was its form—weird, playful, even difficult at times (but in the best ways). In our conversation, Pierce opens up about overcoming the terror of putting yourself out there and finding artistic freedom through self-publishing.
Available for physical purchase in Wellington, NZ
For those based in Wellington, the book can be purchased from Undercurrent Books at 118 Tory St. This was the site of the book's launch. In buying from a book store you help preserve a place where all are welcome to attend.
Product Details
ISBN: 978-0-473-73035-2 Publisher: Screenshot Books Publication Date: 7 December 2024 Final Edit Date: 6 November 2024 Pages: 369 Size (w x h): 152 x 229 mm RRP: 35.00 NZD Format: Digital / Paperback Category: Art / Technology / Fiction Language: English
Record details
- Category
- Art, Publishing, Technology
- Release Date
- 25 January 2025
- Catalog Number
- [001]