THE DECLINE AND FALL OF THE AMERICAN NATION (2013)
The year is 2147 and America lies in ruins, the result mainly of widespread arson. Buried in the rubble is The Actaeon College of Institutional Analysis and Social Control, and under that rubble—having survived by great miracle—are discovered The Larsen Papers, in semi-ruined condition but considered by scholars to be of immeasurable value in ascertaining the exact nature of academic life in the decades preceding the Collapse. The papers of English Professor Eric Larsen are at once scholarly and intensely personal, serving as a key to the nature not only of intellectual life but also the nature of personal, romantic, aesthetic, and literary life as the nation gradually but inevitably crept toward its monstrous collapse. Central among the papers is the Larsen “Diary,” which, like the other papers, has been closely analyzed by scholars intensely ever since its discovery, revealing essential characteristics not only of the psychology, intellect, and personality of its author but also of his emotional stability. The Larsen Papers were first published in 2110 and are here published once again, in a splendid new and revised edition from The Universities of Asia Press, Beijing, dated 2147.
•••• •
“The real Eric Larsen is working at a deeper level here, exploring possibilities with different narrative forms to comment on issues relevant to American society today. He includes side notes, footnotes, diary entries, diagrams, and more. It is at once disturbing, humorous, and altogether daring, crafted together with a nonlinear and free-form structure that is wholly unique. Readers who enjoy apocalyptic tales and crave more creative, challenging works will understand and appreciate Larsen's new novel.”
—Dylan Ward, The US Review of Books (2014)
Reviews and Praise
-
By Dylan Ward
"Whatever did take place, I know this: I was in the midst of it, I observed it, I still do. And I have managed so far in one way or another, to live through it, All this with the dubious result that here I am now, surviving however best I can in the barren, diminished, depleted world left to me."
In the twenty-second century, America lies in ruins, destroyed by vandalism and arson. The time is 2147, and the accounts of the collapse from the surviving papers, first published in 2110 CE, are now updated with "The Larsen Papers," contained within the voluminous The Decline and Fall of the American Nation. As witness, Larsen offers in his papers a diary and other writings, observations, and testimonials of the inexplicable fall of America, the state of academia, and the destruction of the human race from within. Miraculously spared from the fires that spread through Actaeon College of Institutional Analysis and Social Control, "The Larsen Papers" are now revealed to the world.
This is not your ordinary, everyday novel. In his fourth book of fiction, Larsen infuses himself as a fictional character whose surviving work is regarded with historical importance: writings and observations of a very plausible and apocalyptic America that will be studied and researched for years to come. "The Larsen Papers" were largely in good condition, but in no specific order and the reader is presented with what was salvaged and pieced together. The fictional editors note, "In regard to damaged primary documents, editorial policy throughout has followed long-standing tradition in transferring them to the printed page in such a way as to duplicate as nearly as possible the exact physical appearance of the original."
The real Eric Larsen is working at a deeper level here, exploring possibilities with different narrative forms to comment on issues relevant to American society today. He includes side notes, footnotes, diary entries, diagrams, and more. It is at once disturbing, humorous, and altogether daring, crafted together with a nonlinear and free-form structure that is wholly unique. Readers who enjoy apocalyptic tales and crave more creative, challenging works will understand and appreciate Larsen's new novel.