wyrd.

Abstract

Solon Asa Brood is a 17-year-old MENSA-approved smartie and determined to become famous. He writes a diary that he feels could make him the "next Anne Frank." Ellis August Qualm is a humanities professor who finds himself immersed in a complex, dystopian afterlife. The two protagonists' timelines, when combined, are wyrd.: a full-length novel that incorporates prose, poetry, rap, screenplays, slang, and biting self-awareness. The novel's themes center on postmodernity--that is, blistering uncertainty--that is, a stark nihilism--that is, an impenetrable skepticism--that is, an inability to define what is.

wyrd. juxtaposes first person commentary on life as a teenager in Midwest Ohio (Brood) with a third person allegorical storyline determined to define determinism (Qualm), and asks that age-old question: "Why?"