Sorry, dude, Mickey says as Hal groans. Look at his face. It’s so obvious, that creeping smile, he feels closer to Mickey than he has in a long time, perhaps ever. This is it, isn’t it? Hal says. The last Encyclopaedists party. Probably, Mickey says. And he looks up to the ceiling. What do you think they’re talking about up there? And Hal rubs his jaw, settling into the pain. Not a fucking clue.
It almost doesn’t make sense to ask what Mani and Tricia were saying at that exact moment. They would recall it later; they were saying what they would remember saying. Consensus would become fact.
Mani speaks to Tricia without looking at her. You ever wish you could want to be a doctor? She takes a hit of a joint, staring out at the city, then passes it to Tricia. She takes a hit herself, contemplating. I wish I could want to be a consumer, she says. A professional consumer. God, can you imagine? If all you had to do to be fulfilled was buy shit and watch TV and read novels, to feed and feed yourself until your heart gave out?
Fools, all of us. Glorious fools born into a vacuum of need, told we could be anything, flailing in a sea of possibility, thinking it a curse, having to design our lives from scratch, forever skeptical of what we create, forever revising, no idea of who we are or what we will make of ourselves—everyone a creator, everyone a voice in the universal knowledge—how lonely, with every mouth moving, no one actually listening, truth constantly in flux. That very same day, in Rio de Janeiro, a death squad gunned down thirty people. Across the world, 350,000 infants inhaled for the very first time. Over the next five years, we would all become different people. We couldn’t help ourselves. We needed to know the truth, and no one would give it to us, so we made it up as we went. We authored our lives in real time. We became invisible and everywhere. Over the next billion years, the sun would grow more luminous, and surface temperatures on the earth would rise until all the water on the planet evaporated into space, a sublime obliterating ascension worthy of humanity, though no human would live to see it.I
* * *
I. Not in person, anyway.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
* * *
Dear Reader,
You allowed this book to hijack your mind for a significant number of hours, hours you could have spent skydiving or mastering the Rubik’s Cube. If you are now regretting that decision, please direct all hate mail to us. Should you feel otherwise—fingers crossed—we would like to remind you that this book could not exist without the help of dozens of brilliant and generous fools.
We are deeply indebted to Phil Klay, who read draft after draft of this book and pushed us to make hard decisions, removing the vampires, having Montauk deploy to Baghdad instead of an exoplanet orbiting Tau Ceti, and changing Corderoy’s wizardry school into an MA lit program.
Many others gave us editorial feedback along the way; these insightful readers include: Richard Armstrong, Carmiel Banasky, Jeffrey Coffin, Melissa Falcon Field, Stephanie Kese, Molly Wallace Kovite, Clare Needham, Erin Pollock, Jason Sack, and Katie Vane.
Thanks to our astounding agent, Eric Simonoff, who somehow manages to be as nice as he is shrewd. Thanks also to the rest of the WME team, including Cathryn Summerhayes, Kate Barry, Eve Atterman, and Kathleen Nishimoto.
Liese Mayer, our sharp and judicious editor, was instrumental in streamlining the plot and heightening the emotive impact throughout. And to everyone else at Scribner: our publicist, Katherine Monaghan, our designer, Jill Putorti, our production editor, Dan Cuddy, and our copy editor, Beth Thomas—brilliant work, all of you. And to Nan Graham, for believing in this book and helping it become a reality.
We’d also like to thank Simon Prosser at Hamish Hamilton and Oscar van Gelderen at Lebowski for their early support in bringing this book to international readers.
And of course, countless hours of research were spent combing the near infinite well of knowledge that is Wikipedia. So, thank you to Jimmy Wales and the entire Wikipedia community.
* * *
Christopher would like to thank:
My parents for not pressuring their vagabond son to get a real job during the five years in which War of the Encyclopaedists was written. I’m also grateful to my recently deceased grandfather for raising a family of journalists, songwriters, and poets, including my uncle Mike, who helped me find my bearings in the world of poetry at the age of twenty-one.
I would not be the writer I am today without my time at the University of Washington, and in the MFA programs at Boston University and Hunter College, where a host of professors pushed me to fail better. They include: Richard Kenney, Heather McHugh, Linda Bierds, Louise Glück, Robert Pinsky, David Ferry, Rosanna Warren, Jean Paul Riquelme, Derek Walcott, Tom Sleigh, Donna Masini, and Jan Heller Levi.
I’m also in debt to the following organizations for supporting me over the last five years: Bread Loaf, the Djerassi Resident Artists Program, the Kimmel Harding Nelson Center for the Arts, the Lanesboro Arts Center, the MacDowell Colony, the Millay Colony for the Arts, the Santa Fe Art Institute, and the Virginia Center for the Creative Arts.
Much of this book was also written while house- or pet-sitting for a number of people who were incredibly gracious in sharing their space: Doug and Gretchen Stewart, Steve and Mimi Johnson, Simone Kearney and her father, Richard, Donna Masini, and Nina Budabin McQuown.
Thanks to my Djerassi pals for the moral support during the beginning of this publishing journey, and in particular to Susanna Sonnenberg for the invaluable advice.
And my undying gratitude to Mary Karr, who kept me clothed and fed and writing, who showed me the way up the crags of Parnassus, and who kicked my ass when I needed it most.
* * *
Gavin would like to thank:
My wife, Molly. And to my parents: thanks for a childhood full of books and everything else. Thanks to Nicole, for being who she is. Thanks to the 5035 and Spaceship Excellent for all the characters. Thanks to those who taught me to be a soldier and a leader, especially Dave Carr and Craig Hanson. To Mike Starbuck and the 4th Platoon Mad Dogs: you guys do Riverside proud. I hope you like the book. Thanks to Vinne Lichvar for the story—you know which one. To the 555 legal team: thanks for keeping my head above water while I put the finishing touches on this thing.
To Aladdin, Mohammed, and Monkey: for your friendship, wit, and courage, you have my undying respect and gratitude. I hope you’re safe.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS
* * *
Erin Pollock
Christopher Robinson, a Boston University and Hunter College MFA graduate, is a MacDowell Colony fellow and a Yale Younger Poets prize finalist. His writing has appeared in many publications, including The Kenyon Review and McSweeney’s.
• • •
Gavin Kovite was an infantry platoon leader in Baghdad from 2004 to 2005. He attended NYU Law and is now an Army lawyer. His writing has appeared in literary magazines and in Fire and Forget, an anthology of war fiction.
MEET THE AUTHORS, WATCH VIDEOS AND MORE AT
SimonandSchuster.com
authors.simonandschuster.com/Christopher-Robinson
authors.simonandschuster.com/Gavin-Kovite
We hope you enjoyed reading this Scribner eBook.
* * *
Sign up for our newsletter and receive special offers, access to bonus content, and info on the latest new releases and other great eBooks from Scribner and Simon & Schuster.
CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP
or visit us online to sign up at
eBookNews.SimonandSchuster.com
Scribner
An Imprint of Simon & Schuster, Inc.
1230 Avenue of the Americas
New York, NY 10020
www.SimonandSchuster.com
This book is a work of fiction. Any references to historical events, real people, or real places are used fictitiously. Other names, characters, places, and events are products of the authors’ imagina
tions, and any resemblance to actual events or places or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
Copyright © 2015 by Christopher Robinson and Gavin Kovite
All rights reserved, including the right to reproduce this book or portions thereof in any form whatsoever. For information, address Scribner Subsidiary Rights Department, 1230 Avenue of the Americas, New York, NY 10020.
First Scribner hardcover edition May 2015
SCRIBNER and design are registered trademarks of The Gale Group, Inc., used under license by Simon & Schuster, Inc., the publisher of this work.
For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact Simon & Schuster Special Sales at 1-866-506-1949 or [email protected].
The Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau can bring authors to your live event. For more information or to book an event, contact the Simon & Schuster Speakers Bureau at 1-866-248-3049 or visit our website at www.simonspeakers.com.
Interior design by Jill Putorti
Library of Congress Control Number: 2014033292
ISBN 978-1-4767-7542-5
ISBN 978-1-4767-7544-9 (ebook)
War of the Encyclopaedists Page 41
