The Lost Men: An Allegory - Softcover

Colón, David A.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1908168048 ISBN 13: 9781908168047

Publisher: Elsewhen Press, 2012

Synopsis

In a world where the human population has been decimated, self-reliance is the order of the day. Of necessity, the few remaining people must adapt residual technology as far as possible, with knowledge gleaned from books that were rescued and have been treasured for generations. After a childhood of such training, each person is abandoned by their parents when they reach adulthood, to pursue an essentially solitary existence. For most, the only human contact is their counsel, a mentor who guides them to find ‘the one’, their life mate as decreed by Fate. Lack of society brings with it a lack of taboo, ensuring that the Fate envisioned by a counsel is enacted unquestioningly. The only threats to this stable, if sparse, existence are the ‘lost men’, mindless murderers who are also self-sufficient but with no regard for the well-being of others, living outside the confines of counsel and Fate. Is Fate a real force, or is it totally imagined, an arbitrary convention, a product of mankind’s self-destructive tendency? Is it our responsibility to rebuke inherited ‘wisdom’ for the sake of envisioning and manifesting our own will?“Beginning with solitude, ending with ironic hope, every moment is challenged by the present. An extraordinary challenge to our present. Colón’s début offers a dark, disturbing allegory, one that recalls for contemporary fantasy the best traits of literary tradition.”Neil Easterbrook (SFRA 2009 Pioneer Award winner)“An entirely original, weird, and wonderful world that always keeps us guessing. In this impressive debut, Colón confronts us with the most difficult questions that can be asked – about fate, free will, and the foundations of justice.”Lee Konstantinou (author of Pop Apocalypse, a Possible Satire)

About this title

About the Author

David Colon is an Assistant Professor of English at TCU in Fort Worth, Texas, USA. Born and raised in Brooklyn, New York, he received his Ph.D. in English from Stanford University and was a Chancellor's Postdoctoral Fellow in English at the University of California, Berkeley. His writing has appeared in numerous journals, including Cultural Critique, Studies in American Culture, DIAGRAM, How2, and MELUS. The Lost Men is his first book.

Edition details

• Publisher: Elsewhen Press
• Publication date: 2012
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1908168048
• ISBN 13: 9781908168047
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 192