Being that Rick Harsch's Arjun & the Good Snake: Being an Ophidiological Account of Six Weeks in India without Alcohol . . .*
. . . bears the lengthiest, most cryptic, most interesting inscription I have, I'm puzzled that I had not posted it sooner, and so correct my oversight now.
And since the image of the inscription above isn't entirely clear, I've quoted it below. Occasional words or letters I couldn't make out I've underscored instead.
"Dear Brent / DM / eF / HEF / under-score.**
I am younger than my crippled
writing hand is.
Thanks for buying the book,
of course, but also for your enthusiasm
in general, which led me to and
stuck me to LT.***
Please enjoy this quirky,
Slovene __ i_ V___, the strangely
located yet perfectly placed
dedication. The tr___ 'ofi_____'
Etc. And, judge me multifuriously
Uživaj, Rick"
* "Ophidiological" ... Scientific study of snakes.
** "DM" ... Dick Misanthropic.
"eF" ... Enrique Freeque.
"HEF" ... Henri_Etta_Freeque.
*** "LT" ... LibraryThing
Arjun & the Good Snake... (2011) is a scarce title — available only in hardcover from Slovenian publisher Amalietti & Amalietti, and now possibly out of print — from the author of The Driftless Trilogy. The Driftless Zone (or Driftless Area) is a paleozoic plateau cut threw by several river valleys in southwestern Wisconsin, and serves as the primary setting for Rick Harsch's trio of under recognized novels. Published by Steerforth Press, the novels included The Driftless Zone; or, a Novel Concerning the Selective Outmigration from Small Cities (1997); Billy Verite (1998); and The Sleep of Aborigines (2002). These novels are worthy of revival. I can envision NYRB reissuing them in a first ever omnibus, can't you?
Excerpts from Rick Harsch's more recent novels, including The Appearance of Death to a Hindu Woman and The Manifold Destiny of Eddie Vegas, can be read at his website.
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