Clause 00 — the premise
This entire page is one sentence,
which is exactly how Utra Abel has been writing for one year — one long, careful, dangerous sentence at a time — and if you keep scrolling, the sentence will introduce you to his one novel + one tale, his new book Night Day, his five house rules, his critics, his tour dates, and finally, when it is ready, to its full stop.
Clause 01 — which became one novel + one tale
which became three books, standing on this shelf,
Pull a spine ↑
Night Day
Utra AbelTale · 85 pages · out now
Night Day
One sentence. 85 pages with illustrations. No brakes — The boy dreams and does great things at Night Days until they disappear for him...
"A stunt that somehow becomes a tale."— The Ledger✦ Winner — choice of your family
Clause 02 — and the latest, out now
and the latest is called Night Day,
Night Day
Utra AbelAlways doing something in this night world, Yar never grew tired; instead, he was even energized for the entire day. The Night Day world was a spring from which he drew his daytime activities, a map of his adventures for the whole following day. Neither does the sentence.
Eighty five pages, one grammatical unit: a fairy tale about inheritance, punctuation, and everything we refuse to put a period on in life and human relations.
"And even if he started building the tram himself, knowing what had to be done, it would take half his life to assemble it. Because he would have had to learn to do many different things with different objects and solve a whole lot of questions about where and how to obtain everything needed to make a tram."
From page 28 — mid-sentence, obviouslyIt was written in one sitting per chapter, which sounds like a gimmick ))) if we compare it with the parallel project of the epic novel.
Clause 03 — because first drafts are lies told politely
because there are five house rules,
- 01First drafts are lies told politely.
- 02Cut until it hurts, then cut the hurting.
- 03Read it aloud — the ear edits better than the eye.
- 04A comma is a breath; a semicolon is a promise.
- 05The wastebasket is a writing instrument.
Clause 04 — but the critics have opinions
but the critics, predictably, have opinions,
marginalia / 1 of 4A velocity that feels like weather. Night Day is a stunt that somehow becomes a cathedral.— The Ledger
marginalia / 2 of 4Abel does the impossible: he makes grammar feel dangerous.— The Sunday Standard
marginalia / 3 of 4I emerged six hours later — blinking, slightly feral, entirely converted.— Margin Magazine
marginalia / 4 of 4The rare experiment that is also, secretly, a love story.— Folio Review
Clause 05 — so he reads aloud
so he reads it aloud, and you should bring breath,
Clause 06 — and you can have the rest of it
One letter, most Sundays · no noise, no forwarding, unsubscribe ends the sentence cleanly
Fin — this page was, in fact, one sentence · 3,214 words · zero semicolons · one full stop