Degenerescence

by James Chapman

A novel made of incantation and hymn, in outright preference to storytelling, Degenerescence is about the creation and destruction of the world--both creation and destruction being caused by language, the human urge to name things and make stories. In the novel, a goddess named WOE creates a world and bears seven daughters, then witnesses the death of all her creation. An homage to ancient Near East writings of 4000 years ago, Degenerescence shares with Sumerian literature a drumming repetition and a sense of devotional terror that inhabits every human's relationship with the natural world. "What Chapman gets most in this book is this voice, this trancelike voice that moves in a way both tragic and full of awe, almost ancient if it weren’t removed from time altogether. It’s a voice both enlightened and ignorant, in an argument that this sort of ignorance is the key to enlightenment. The voice has always been the greatest strength of Chapman’s, different in every book though always fully immersed in their directions. His mastery of voice is matched only by his ability to perceive and understand." --Forrest Armstrong

248 pages, Paperback

First published January 7, 2009

About the author

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