Pym_ A Novel - Mat Johnson [135]
I reached out to his now stilled body. Despite the heat of the air around us, Pym’s skin had grown disturbingly cold. Both Garth and I tried to resuscitate him, but his spirit had departed. Looking up to see what vision had mortified him, what there was beyond the tan sand and green palms that seemed so inviting, we could find no explanation. But we did see something, something that finally caught both sets of our eyes. Rising up in our pathway was a man. He was naked except for the cloth that covered his loins. He was of normal proportions, and he was shaking his hand in the air, waving it, and we, relieved, waved ours back at him. Past him, minutes later, we saw that he was joined in welcoming us by others, women, more men, and the offspring both had managed. Whether this was Tsalal or not, however, Garth and I could make no judgments. On the shore all I could discern was a collection of brown people, and this, of course, is a planet on which such are the majority.
Special thanks to Gloria Loomis, for whom the title “agent” comes up short. For reading this book in several unfinished forms over eight years, for pushing me to realize it fully, for not letting me destroy the project six years in when I became hopeless, I will be eternally grateful.
Thanks to Geoffrey Sanborn for putting me in the place to get into this work and showing me the intellectual path to find my way out of it.
Thanks to the United States Artists Foundation for providing the support that further enabled this work to be produced.
MAT JOHNSON was born and raised in Philadelphia, and has lived most of his life elsewhere.
He is the author of several novels and graphic novels including Drop, Hunting in Harlem, and Incognegro. Johnson is a faculty member at the University of Houston Creative Writing Program and lives in Texas with his wife and children.
Table of Contents
Cover
Other Books by This Author
Title Page
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Preface
Volume I
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Volume II
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Volume III
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Volume IV
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Chapter 23
Interlude
Chapter 24
Acknowledgements
About the Author