The Augur in the Arbor Inn
A Tautological Myth of Evolution
by David J. Keffer

Description: Motivated by the predictions of an augur, a monk and her acolyte travel the planes of existence, a manner of travel that has literary precedents both old and new. One need think no further than the guided tour that Dante provides of Heaven, Purgatory and Hell in the Divine Comedy or the exploration of the realms of Faerie provided by Susanna Clarke in Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. Just as the narrative in the Divine Comedy also serves as an illustration of the philosophy of Thomas Aquinas, so too does The Augur in the Arbor Inn serve as an investigative tool of a modern description of evolution per Darwin. This account will appeal to contemporary readers who seek an understanding of their metaphysical role in a collective process governed by physical laws. In this book, the monk and her acolyte collect specimens from eight trees, one in Faerie, one in Hell, etc. from which genetic material is integrated to construct a perfect tree in defiance of the evolutionary process.

Writing Style: This novel is written by an author and for an audience who possesses "an impatience with the gruesomely predictable" (Derek Bailey). To achieve this goal and yet maintain broad readability, the stylistic principles of lightness, quickness and multiplicity, per Italo Calvino's Six Memos for the Next Millennium have been consciously invoked.

At the same time, these elements have been integrated into the improvisational creative process embraced by free jazz musicians. To continue the musical analogy, the result is a novel that has less in common with a work of composition, for example Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, than a work of improvisation, for example John Coltrane's Ascension. In fact, it is to that ideal which the author strove, to aspire toward the realization of a novel that rivals Ascension as an improvised work of art. To our knowledge, the result, for better or worse, has no precedent in the literary world.

Experimental Laboratory of Symbology
Emblems representing several institutions present in The Augur in the Arbor Inn are provided for viewing in the Experimental Laboratory of Symbology at the Poison Pie Publishing House. These designs are the work of Ms. M. Poonawala.

Status: This novel is currently looking for someone who will help find it a good home. A generic version of the query letter being used to solicit such interest in the manuscript is posted here.

manuscript access: contact the editor

length: 202,000 words (494 pages in paperback)
written: December 19, 2014-July 15, 2015, Knoxville, Tennessee
paperback size: 6 in x 9 in
paperback publication date: unpublished
paperback ISBN-13: N.A.
paperback ISBN: N.A.
Library of Congress Control Number: N.A.
ebook publication date: unpublished
ebook ISBN-13: N.A.
poison pie publishing house catalog number: PP-033-N

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