Freezing Point Book Talk

To celebrate the reissue of Freezing Point by Danish novelist Anders Bodelson, Faber US and Head Hi present a discussion with four leading magazine writers, editors, and designers on the state of magazines today: Cat Zhang (The Cut), Zach Seely (Hard Pack), Samuel Rutter (Kismet), and Oliver Munday (author of Heads of Household).

First published in 1969, Freezing Point follows Bruno, a magazine editor who is cryogenically frozen and thawed into a future where neither death nor magazines exist. Bruno’s dilemmas are strikingly contemporary: what is the role of art in a superficial society? If the “longevity movement” eliminates death, what happens to stories that depend on endings? And, most pressingly, do all magazine editors secretly just want to be writers?

More about the book:

In Freezing Point, Bruno, a young magazine editor, is offered the chance to be frozen until a cure is found for his terminal cancer. Decades later, he wakes up to find himself cured, but the world is now a very different place: death has been eradicated, and the need for stories–and magazines–along with it. Held prisoner in the hospital clinic, Bruno and the other patients seek both truth and purpose in their new claustrophobic society. The author Anders Bodelsen (1937-2021) was part of the new-realism wave in midcentury Denmark. He was famous for his crime novels, including Think of a Number, which was adapted into “The Silent Partner” starring Elliott Gould.

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Zach Seely is the editor and founder of Hard Pack, a biannual print magazine that approaches skiing as a cultural lens across art, literature, and visual culture. He is based in New York and writes on film, music, and contemporary culture. @zachseely

Oliver Munday is the author of Head of Household and Don't Sleep. His writing has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, The Believer, The Sewanee Review, and Lithub.

Cat Zhang is a culture writer at New York Magazine's The Cut, where she covers books, film, TV, and music. She was previously an editor at Pitchfork. In 2022, she received the ASME Next Award for Journalists Under 30. @catyzhang

Samuel Rutter is a writer and translator from Melbourne, Australia. His work can be found in Harper's Magazine, The Paris Review, The Los Angeles Review and The New York Times, and he is a regular contributor to T, the New York Times style magazine. He is the editor in chief of Kismet, a new literary magazine of religion, spirituality and mysticism. @samuel.rutter

Faber is one of the world’s great independent publishing houses. Since we were founded in 1929, Faber has sought to find the very best writers and we are proud to publish the foremost voices in fiction, non-fiction, poetry, drama, film and children’s books, including thirteen Nobel Laureates and six Booker Prize-winners. Our Faber Editions line spotlights rediscovered gems from our archive and beyond, resurrecting radical literary voices who speak to our present, championed by world-famous authors. @faberbooks.us

Head Hi is an organization dedicated to art, architecture and design specializing in publications and cultural programming with an espresso bar located in Fort Greene, Brooklyn by the Navy Yard. We feature a curated selection of publications from around the globe. Working with local and international artists, designers, publishers, community members and organizations in various fields, Head Hi is a space for exploration and interaction that hosts talks, book launches, art shows, music performances and other events.