"A deliriously creative tour-de-force ... a breathtakingly imaginative and enjoyable novel." (Booklist, starred review)
It begins with a gunshot: a student's public suicide on a university campus. The blast radius of this tragic explosion expands to encompass 50 years of our history and two of the grandest characters in recent American fiction: Simon Magnus, a comic-book writer who transfigured popular culture turned gender activist who transfigures the English language, and Ash del Greco, an online occultist who by the age of 20 has seen to the end of everything and wants desperately to prove the superiority of mind over matter. With a decades-spanning but tightly-knit plot, written in an expansive style, Major Arcana canvasses America's inner life and moral history from coast to coast and across two generations in a delirious saga about art, magic, love, and death.
Originally serialized on the author's Substack newsletter, Major Arcana is a novel about the transformative power of popular culture. With a nod to Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay, and for fans of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Pistelli reimagines the expansive novel for the 21st century.
"A deliriously creative tour-de-force... a breathtakingly imaginative and enjoyable novel." -- Booklist, starred review
"A rich and enriching novel" -- Kirkus Reviews
"His interest lies in the daring and ambition of myth-making. "Major Arcana" has the characteristics of a superhero--or, rather, antihero--epic.... it's grandiose and declamatory"--The Wall Street Journal
"Blending a freewheeling, deeply moving narrative with intellectual and artistic debates, Major Arcana follows graphic novelists, dreamers, and lovers of big ideas through chaotic but deeply felt lives. John Pistelli is an author with a crystal-clear vision of what he wants to achieve--and, even more impressively, he succeeds. He aims high, inviting readers to follow him into a bold, exhilarating, and intellectually stimulating story."--Chicago Review of Books
"Pistelli knows how to write about modern culture. This is not a twentieth century novel trying to make itself relevant in a world it is not merely uncomfortable in but cannot comprehend...but instead reads like a novel written now...Major Arcana successfully writes about an internet culture, which has to be fluid between the on- and off-line."--Herry Oliver, The Common Reader
"A bravura, hallucinatory tarot of art, madness, and the fatal poignance of being alive." --Bruce Wagner
"Perhaps the elusive great American novel for the twenty-first century." -- Ross Barkan
John Pistelli is the author of bestselling Substack Grand Hotel Abyss, home of a regular newsletter called Weekly Readings and the literary podcast The Invisible College, as well as the eight-year archive of an award-winning literary blog at johnpistelli.com. He holds a Ph.D. in English from the University of Minnesota and has been writing and teaching for almost two decades. He lives in Pittsburgh, PA.
This item is eligible for simple returns within 30 days of delivery. Return shipping is the responsibility of the customer. See our returns policy for further details.
