Argo Legend 8: The Books and Stories
THE PIECES
Archipelago
Chapter 1, “In a Southern City,” introduces Finnegan (John A. Solli) and Vincent J. Stranahan during a WWII furlough in Sydney (February 1943). Finnegan's thoughts reveal his sense of fractured identity ("he doubted that he would ever find a place in it") and hint at his archetypal nature ("Adam," "Dionysus"). In Sydney, they encounter key figures: Hans G. Schultz, Marie Monaghan, Loy Larkin, Margaret Murphy, Tom Shire, Freddy Castle, and the strikingly prophetic Salvation Sally. Crucial relationships begin, notably the Hans/Marie connection. Amidst ordinary activities like pub crawls and races, significant events unfold. Hans wins a beer-drinking contest against Sgt. Bushmaster, presented as a "heroic labor." Finnegan is tricked into signing a comic declaration of Australian superiority, narrated as “betraying his country” [A:13]. Casey Szymanski joins the drinking-contest party, while Henry Salvatore is mentioned, preparing for their later roles. Finnegan's concluding “Antipodal Ode” captures the chapter's mood of longing and displacement.
Significance: This chapter grounds the main characters in a realistic WWII setting that already feels charged with mythic undertones. It introduces core themes like fractured identity, the nature of reality, heroism, and the uncanny, while its episodic structure reflects the characters' disjointed experiences.
Chapter 2, “The Green Islands” (A:35-70): The setting shifts to the primal landscape of New Guinea ("Black Papua," "Well of the World"), portrayed as a space influenced by the Papuan unconscious. Finnegan reflects on archipelagos, echoing the theme of fragmentation. Henry F. Salvatore is introduced. The core group is named the "Dirty Five" and assigned Argonaut identities (Finnegan/Iason, Hans/Orpheus, Henry/Euphemus, Vincent/Meleager, Casey/Peleus), defining them as a "mystic society" prone to "amnesia." A mail call brings letters introducing Theresa Piccone and Melchisedech Duffey. Duffey's letter warns Casey Szymanski about "Hugo Stone" (identified as Absalom Stein), setting up a key conflict. Hans encounters the Finnegan-like Cliff People. Finnegan receives the amulet "Heliogabalus" from Sulem, who notes Finnegan's defining lack of tujuan (direction).
Significance: This chapter reunites Henry and Casey with the group, establishes the Argonaut framework as central, positions New Guinea as metaphysically important, starts the Duffey/Stein antagonism, and foreshadows Finnegan's unique nature.
Chapter 3, “Think of a Name” (A:71-90): Focusing on Finnegan (as an unnamed Sergeant), this chapter depicts his severe amnesia in a military hospital before his homeward departure—a key trait of the Argonauts. The Ward Fourteen setting becomes a stage for exploring reality and identity through interactions with unusual figures: Private Gregory (multiple identities, long life), Ignatius Ti and his prophetic parakeet Amoy (metempsychosis, non-human awareness), and Green (claims of godhood). The Sergeant's confusion ("I am one of those names, but I don't know which one") highlights the cycle's central problem of unstable identity.
Significance: The chapter directly explores the Argonauts' characteristic identity fragmentation and amnesia, particularly Finnegan's. It uses the confined setting to contrast bureaucratic reality with radically different possibilities of existence.
Chapter 4: “Stranahan, Who Is Meleager” (A:91-114): This chapter centers on Vincent Stranahan (Meleager), grounding his story in the conventional event of his marriage to Theresa Piccone in St. Louis (late May 1946). It details Vincent's large Irish Catholic family ("Cat Castle") and Theresa's background in theater. The wedding serves as a key gathering point, bringing together members of the post-war cast, including Melchisedech Duffey and Absalom Stein, alongside members of the Dirty Five. The unresolved tension in the Finnegan/Dotty Yekouris relationship is emphasized. Theresa's immediate, trans-temporal sense of connection to Finnegan is introduced.
Significance: The chapter establishes St. Louis as a key setting. Vincent's conventional path contrasts with the others. The chapter marks a post-war gathering of key characters, while deepening existing relationship conflicts and introducing new mysterious connections.
Chapter 5, “Henry the Barque” (A:115-149): Focusing on Henry F. Salvatore (Euphemus, the Pilot), the chapter reveals his Cajun background and connection to Mary Virginia Schaeffer. His significant Navicula Petri dream informs his spiritual Vocation: defending the Church. This leads to the creation of The Bark magazine during a meeting in New Orleans with Duffey, Dotty, and Mary Virginia. Henry proposes naming the magazine after the "little boat" from his dream; Finnegan supports the name and clairvoyantly draws its masthead, depicting a troubled vessel [A:121]. The chapter includes Casey's critical editorial from The Crock, establishing the central ideological conflict between Casey's emerging Gnosticism and The Bark's traditionalism. The enigmatic Mr. X and his connection to the group are introduced. Zabotski is first mentioned.
Significance: The chapter reveals Henry's core motivation and identity. The chapter details the founding of The Bark as the group's ideological platform, establishing the central conflict with Casey's faction. The ambiguous figure of Mr. X enters the narrative.
Chapter 6, “Casey the Crock, or The Losing of Peleus” (A:151-169): Framed by conversations with Finnegan in Chicago, this chapter dives into the backstory of Kasmir W. Szymansky (Casey/Peleus). It covers his relationship with his father Gabriel, his detailed "imaginary worlds" (revealing his intellectual interests and psychological makeup), and his time at St. Bonaventure's boarding school with Finnegan ("Hinnegan"). The chapter establishes his defining traits—intellectualism, cynicism (seen in notebook entries), internal contradictions, and obsession with the Problem of Evil. The chapter explains his forced army enlistment, arranged by Hillary Hilton.
Significance: This chapter provides crucial psychological and biographical background for Casey, explaining the roots of his complex motivations, intellectual framework, and eventual antagonistic role.
Chapter 7, “Finnegan, Who Is Iason, but Who Is Also of the Other People” (A:171-188): This chapter explores John A. Solli/Finnegan's (Iason) core identity as a wanderer. It examines his ambiguous origins (Italian/Irish, Teras nature, possible changeling status), his double or fetch (Finnegan/Doppio di Pinne), and his pervasive sense of displacement. The chapter details his key relationships with his siblings (Patricia, Giacomo) and his unresolved connection with Dotty Yekouris. A formative early journey with the boy Howland highlights themes of aimlessness, poverty, and prejudice.
Significance: Finnegan's archetype as the displaced quester is solidified. The chapter develops foundational elements (Teras nature, double, rootlessness, relationship with Dotty) that drive his narrative arc and internal conflicts.
Chapter 8, “Land of the Cyclops” (A:189-206): Finnegan undertakes a picaresque journey with episodic encounters that blend the mundane and the mythic. These include a short stint as a door-to-door salesman, adopting and then abandoning the successful artist persona "Gregory van Ghi" in Manhattan (fleeing comfort and temptation), and a strange period living with Gautier the Goat-Man (a Pan figure) in the New Jersey Barrens, where he ultimately rejects succeeding him. The chapter ends with Finnegan ill and lost in "Texas, the dread land of the Cyclops," reflecting his internal state.
Significance: The chapter illustrates Finnegan's typical pattern of temporary immersion followed by flight. It reinforces the theme of myth intersecting with contemporary reality and foreshadows future dangers with the "Cyclops" reference.
Chapter 9, “Hans, Who Is Also Orpheus” (A:207-241): This chapter provides the background of John Gottfried Schultz (Hans/Orpheus), the group's intellectual and moral center. It covers his Wisconsin upbringing, his formative Wanderjahr with Professor von Weinsberg-Valeni (gaining vast knowledge during carnival years), his relationship with Betty Hochstapler, and his move to "Bohemia" (Greenwich Village). His intense creative life there with the poet Trinali Peterson and their circle is described, exploring art, love, and metaphysics. Trinali's early death ends this period. A gap of "hidden years" before Hans joins the army is noted.
Significance: Hans's foundational character, knowledge, morality, and Orphic potential are established. The Bohemia section offers a contrasting exploration of artistic and philosophical life and death.
Chapter 10, “Distressed Merchandise” (A:243-267): Acting as a narrative bridge, this chapter returns to Finnegan in Chicago, with 1950, 1951, and 1952 proposed in his uncertain dating of the scene [A:246]. Disoriented (possibly Korsakoff's Psychosis), he appears in Chicago, confronts his father's ghost, briefly reconnects with Francine and Howland, and discusses the past with Mary Catherine Carruthers. He meets with Hillary Hilton to discuss business and Casey's situation. He encounters the dealer Asking Dan, who delivers a prophecy that Finnegan will be murdered by a "leftfooted man." In a later surreal scene, Casey encounters Asking Dan and buys outlandish clothes. The chapter concludes with crucial letters exchanged between Show Boat, Dotty, Finnegan, Mary Virginia, Henry, Mr. X, and Absalom Stein, updating their situations, perspectives (including Casey's perceived corruption and the Papadiabolous affair), and outlining the stakes for future conflicts.
Significance: Bridges Finnegan's dislocation between story arcs. Introduces a specific, lethal threat via prophecy. The concluding letters provide key exposition, reveal character viewpoints, confirm Casey's antagonistic turn, and set the stage for subsequent books. The title reflects Finnegan's precarious state.
Chapter 11, “Crotolo or Dorotea” (A:269-283): Finnegan finds himself dislocated in Havana, Cuba (mistaking it for New Orleans), where reality feels like a shared joke. He interacts with his lawyer friend Ignacio and the musician Elena. He receives a mailed death threat from Niccolo Crotolus, the prophesied left-footed killer. Dotty Yekouris arrives. The climax unfolds on a beach where Crotolus attacks Finnegan; Dotty intervenes, leading to a chaotic gunfight where all three are wounded. The shootout ends ambiguously.
Significance: The chapter escalates the threat against Finnegan from prophecy to direct physical assault. Dotty's dramatic intervention reaffirms her protective role. The surreal setting underscores Finnegan's ontological instability.
The Devil Is Dead
Chapter 1, “Seaworthy and the Devil” (D:9-24): In Galveston [D:215; M:458], a dislocated Finnegan meets Saxon X. Seaworthy, a wealthy man who recognizes him, reveals a shared, cryptic mark below their left wrists. Seaworthy, who suddenly ages, proposes a voyage. Anastasia Demetriades, a perceptive bargirl, questions Finnegan about their earlier encounter. Papa Devil II (impersonating Papa Devil I, though the reader does not yet know this) is introduced, and his powerful presence unnerves Finnegan and Seaworthy. The setting juxtaposes gritty waterfront bars with a nearby graveyard.
Chapter 2, “Mermaid and Ogress” (D:26-41): The voyage begins from Texas on the Brunhilde (November 7). The full cast gathers: Anastasia (revealed as mermaid-like), Marie Courtois (the powerful Golden Giantess/Ogress), Papa Devil II, Seaworthy, his associates (Gerecke, Wirt), and the divided crew (Lewis, Cross vs. Scott, Emery, McAbney). The spy Manuel swims aboard. The conflict between Anastasia (perception) and Marie (force) is established.
Chapter 3, “The Furtive Man” (D:43-51): During a beach party, Don Lewis recounts a disturbing WWII story about hunting, killing, and burying a "Furtive Little Man" (Yokipoki) on Pulau Petir, also called Willy Jones Island, followed by a false resurrection (rats disturbing the grave). This story mirrors Finnegan's burial of Papadiabolous I and foreshadows Lewis's fate. The narration connects Manuel, Lewis, and Finnegan as furtive men. Finnegan clairvoyantly reads parts of Dopey’s hidden letter describing his intended substitution for Finnegan [D:50–51].
Chapter 4: “The Wives of Sindbad” (D:53-65): Manuel reveals he is a spy from a society fighting a demonic force. Finnegan paints murals of Sindbad's voyages in the ship's barroom, casting Seaworthy as Sindbad, Anastasia as the wife of the 4th voyage, and Marie as the wife of the 7th. While painting, Finnegan realizes Papa Devil II wears another man's living face. Joe Cross reports the apparent murder of Finnegan's double, Doppio di Pinne, by Papa Devil II in Finnegan's bunk.
Significance: Develops the spy subplot. Highlights Finnegan's art as a tool for insight, revealing the Devil's deception. Raises the possibility of Papa Devil's direct violence against Finnegan's identity/double, raising the stakes.
Chapter 5, “The Unaccountable Corpse” (D:67-78): Triggered by swimming and Seaworthy's dream discussion, Finnegan recovers the suppressed memory of helping Seaworthy bury the freshly killed Papadiabolous I in a graveyard on the night they first met. This flashback confirms Seaworthy's "dream" as fact and reveals Finnegan's unwitting complicity in the central mystery. He also reads more of Dopey's letter, which details the plot against him.
Chapter 6, “Luluway Is the Plural of Diamond” (D:80-96): The Brunhilde reaches Freetown, Sierra Leone (January 26). Finnegan knows the Papa Devil aboard isn't the man he helped bury; Seaworthy doesn't. Finnegan briefly leaves the ship, partners with Joseph, a Haussa diamond smuggler, and receives a sack containing rocks and diamonds, representing potential independence. Joseph identifies Seaworthy's company as evil.
Significance: Confirms the Papa Devil deception. Gives Finnegan resources and an alternative path outside the voyage. Reinforces the conflict's moral dimension.
Chapter 7, “Habib, I Have Found Something” (D:98-115): After the Grand Canary stop at the close of Chapter 6, the ship reaches Tangier, where the atmosphere grows hostile. Don Lewis realizes he is being hunted. He attempts to escape but is cornered and murdered (neck broken) by Marie Courtois, who appears ecstatic and bestial. Finnegan discovers and buries the body, realizes who killed Lewis, and then confronts Marie in her hotel room [D:110–113].
Chapter 8, “Anastasia Demetriades” (D:117-128): Arriving at Naxos (around March 14), Finnegan confesses to a priest, describing his dual identity ("another person inside me," "of the Devil’s kindred"). He visits Anastasia's grandmother, Gyiagyia, confirming their shared "other blood." Anastasia reveals her secret duty: a nighttime mountain vigil to await and signal the mysterious boat, the Hawk.
Chapter 9, “Diana Artemis” (D:130-141): During the mountain vigil, Finnegan experiences visions: conversing with his Teras self, encountering Oreads who call Anastasia sister and warn him. Below, the Seabach arrives with armed men. On the Brunhilde, Papa Devil II begins transforming ("regrow my lost stripes"), while Wirt and Gerecke prepare a trap. Anastasia takes on the aspect of Diana Artemis.
Significance: Builds climax tension with converging threats and heightened metaphysical events. Links Anastasia to mythic figures and foreshadows sacrifice. Hints at Papa Devil's true nature.
Chapter 10, “Down with the Dead Men” (D:143-158): The Naxos climax: Gunfire erupts between the Seabach crew and the Brunhilde party. Finnegan finds Papa Devil II dead, his true face revealed. Joe Cross and the Seabach crew are also dead. Anastasia has been shot and falls from the breakwater; Manuel says Marie Courtois insisted that she be killed. Finnegan later identifies Marie as the shooter [D:157]. Guided by a boy, Finnegan escapes Naxos with Manuel, swimming to Paros. Margaret Stone's commentary frames the deaths.
Chapter 11, “36,000 Pieces of Paper” (D:160-174): After a time jump ("Several years"), Finnegan lives a "shadow life," set after his reported "first death" and marked by enhanced agility ("werecat," "ape"). He tracks Seaworthy, Gerecke, Wirt, and Gonof to a hotel meeting. Infiltrating via rooftops, he tries to kill Seaworthy but kills William Gerecke instead. He escapes with Seaworthy's suitcase (the "thesaurus" containing 36,000 valuable papers). He steals a stranger’s car, encounters Doll Delancy, and makes her drive, beginning their flight together [D:166–168].
Chapter 12, “Crest and Shatter” (D:176-194): Finnegan and Doll are fugitives; Mr. X rejoins them before they reach Florida lake country. X explains how he substituted a decoy suitcase and divided the stolen money. Finnegan undergoes another self-destructive cycle ("crested and shattered"). The trio scatters again.
Chapter 13, “Biloxi Brannagan” (D:196-210): Recovering, Finnegan finds refuge in Biloxi, Mississippi, with Biloxi Brannagan (an Argo Master) and his wife Gertrude. Brannagan shares esoteric lore connected to the Argo and hidden realities. Mr. X warns Finnegan by phone to flee and avoid his old haunts, where hunters are watching for him [D:208–209]. Recognizing Brannagan's "double blood" nature, Finnegan understands the refuge is temporary and flees again.
Chapter 14, “Company of Fifty” (D:212-226): Finnegan undergoes the "Transport of Finnegan," a mystical experience reconnecting him to his Teras roots ("Valley of the New Men"). He returns to the Old Wooden Ship tavern in the town where he first met Seaworthy, a symbolic human haven [D:215]. He interacts with the "Company of Fifty" regulars, reprising vignettes and lore from that setting. Key figures like Le Marin and Sebastian Schaeffer appear, linking narrative threads.
Chapter 15, “Basse-Terre” (D:228-238): The chapter details Finnegan's idyllic time in Basse-Terre ("Terrestrial Paradise"). He shared this time with Le Marin, Barnaby, and Duckwalk.
Chapter 16, “Liar’s Paradise” (D:240-256): Continuing the Basse-Terre episode, this chapter features nested, unreliable stories told by the companions during their idyll: Le Marin's tale of uncanny ship doubles (Sarcophagus), Duckwalk's story of swapped identities and murder, Barnaby's surreal Juju Joy Pill experience. Includes Charles O. A. Harrington's review of Royce Rollins's The Return of the Neanderthal, linking to Teras themes.
Chapter 17, “Angela Cosquin” (D:258-268): Focusing on the Basse-Terre episode, this chapter details Finnegan's relationship with Angela Cosquin, keeper of the seven treasure maps. After his companions depart Paradise, Finnegan initially vows to stay. When he is hunted even on the island, he leaves Angela, promising to return; he never does.
Chapter 18, “Fin in the Graveyard” (D:270-281): After another gap, Finnegan revisits the Galveston graveyard of the opening episode [D:10, D:215; M:458]. Mr. X appears and recounts the history of Ifreann Gregorovitch Papadiabolous Chortovitch, father of the two Papadiabolous brothers whose identities he explains in Chapter Nineteen. Doll Delancy rejoins Finnegan. Carmody Overlark's notes contrasting Neanderthal and Modern human types provide an anthropological/metaphysical key.
Chapter 19, “The Devil Is Dead” (D:283-294): The closing scene occurs at the grave shared by Ifreann Gregorovitch and his son Gregory McIfreann (Papadiabolous I). Finnegan, X, and Doll engage in a ritualistic confrontation involving portents and verse. Doll drops her poem into the grave; it declares the Devil dead ("This is the day that the Devil is dead") and anticipates Finnegan's own death.
Book One: This book introduces Melchisedech Duffey as the primordial Magus, existing outside normal lineage ("Without father, without mother...") and across multiple simultaneous childhoods (Iowa, St. Louis, Boston, etc.). It outlines his core powers: creating gold ("golden touch"), commanding invisible giants, invading minds, pirating experiences, and creating people through talismans. Key formative events that demonstrate these powers include enforcing an entity's death in Lake Manawa and manipulating the weather in Boston, which imbues his talismanic sticks after a lightning strike. Chesterton's verse frames Duffey's reality as transcending death.
Book Two: Follows Duffey after he finishes school at fifteen. In St. Louis, he establishes the Rounders' Club and develops his friendships, business interests, music, and boxing. He loses part of his magic, departs for the mysterious Seven Lost Years, and returns to St. Louis before hearing the distant call of moth wings [M:38–75].
Book Three: The frame identifies the core cast as Duffey's "Animated Marvels" and questions their convergence. Duffey travels to Chicago (1925) guided by an intuitive "moth call." On the train, he meets Charlotte Mullens (posing as nine, actually older) and her sister/mother Gloria. Charlotte reveals uncanny knowledge of Duffey, his quest ("moth"), and a hidden "stash" linked to Aga Gonof, showing her own complex powers and possibly rivalrous nature. August Koch gives Duffey a Christ artifact, placed with his seven others [M:103].
Book Four: Covers Duffey's life in Chicago after his "Seven Lost Years" (established in Chicago in 1925 [M:77, M:98]). He notes his "golden touch" facility has faded. Already married to Letitia Koch, he stays active in a vibrant social and business life with his network (Bagbys, Hiltons, Kochs, etc.). He discusses the Depression with Tony Apostolo and Rollo McSorley and rejects "Fleshpot Row." He recounts his mule-moving feat as his last public magic act, but the narration later withdraws that claim because of his puppet shows [M:127–133].
Book Five: Set in St. Louis in 1946, Duffey reflects on Bascom Bagby as his necessary counterpoint ("dark object") and revisits his complex relationship with Beth Keegan Erlenbaum. Key events: 1) He learns his "Animated Marvels" are gathering independently in St. Louis for Vincent's wedding, showing their autonomy. 2) He meets his creations, collectively called the "Duffeys." 3) Henri Salvatore's letter has summoned him to St. Louis; at the wedding reception Henri sends him to New Orleans to labor for the rest of his life [M:149–184].
Book Six: Focuses on Duffey's "time of trial" (implicitly after the Devil's 1946 release). Letters and Pelican Press episodes frame responses to the newly released Devil, including X’s eyewitness report [M:185–208].
Book Seven: Set in Duffey's later New Orleans period at the Pelican Press, the base for rebuilding. Duffey interacts with the core Marvels engaged in this project (Dotty, Mary Virginia, Margaret Stone, Sally, Stein, Zabotski, X). Margaret Stone takes Showboat street-preaching, winning over audiences that resist Showboat’s polished performance [M:231–232]. They discuss encroaching darkness and corruption. The group recalls its Argonaut identities and shared life aboard the ship [M:232–236].
Book Eight: Explores Duffey's connection with Bascom Bagby, continuing via letters after Bagby's death. After receiving letters from Ignacio and Elena, possibly from Cuba, Dotty Yekouris departs to find Finnegan [M:237]. Women from Duffey's past visit (Lily Koch, Mary Catherine, Margaret, Mary V, Sally), showing enduring bonds. Zabotski continues his work.
Book Nine: The conceptual climax. Prompted by the girls' sign ("The Future Begins Right Here"), Duffey considers the seven roads. He explores these possibilities through dialogues with the Ursuline girls (revealing the play Seven Roads) and Absalom Stein, then turns to Zabotski's Ark. The book recounts the Ark's origins, the clash of competing chronologies, and its arrival at Pristine Cove [M:264–289].
Book Ten: Duffey's philosophical culmination. Acknowledging his end, he reflects on his creations and experiences. The girls' play supplies images for seven eschatological contingencies; the narrative then describes these alternatives and Duffey's confrontation with the Loosed Devil and the offered covenant. His world and identity fracture, and the confrontation remains unresolved. Cleo Mahoney's Seven Roads frames the section [M:290–305].
Book Eleven: Duffey enters a transformed New Orleans, where Royal Pop History and the Thunder Colt alternative overturn familiar people and institutions. The Decatur Street Opera House stages the replacement of humanity; Margaret Stone, Zabotski, and the Deutero-Finnegan resist and are killed in its spectacle [M:306–351].
Book Twelve: Revisits Cleo Mahoney's play Seven Roads after Duffey's return from the Fifth Road, whose consequences persist in his familiar world. With Mr. X and Horace Pie, Duffey searches the Cuban coast for Finnegan's tomb and encounters Finnegan in "yesterday." The Seventh Contingency brings Duffey into the Presence of God; after his fall to the dung heap, he joyfully resumes making and anticipates sailing on the Argo before returning to that work [M:352–395].
Book Thirteen: Argo: Duffey's final journey. The book opens with Duffey on an icy cliff, remembering himself and rescuing Eva (Neanderthal Eve) from ice. He pilots the Argo alongside Biloxi Brannagan and Gorshok. During the search for the Laughing Prince, he is killed, and his bones are brought aboard the ship. God Himself reaffirms Duffey's role as Pilot and Master, and Casey Gorshok makes golden gear for him. The Argo is depicted as the eternal vessel of myth and redemption. Includes Gorshok’s account of Judas on the Argo. The closing scene returns Duffey to St. Louis in 1923, at age twenty-three again [M:396–473].
Melchisedech Duffey stumbles into the dawn of the “Great Day,” and the world dissolves around him. Reality cracks. First, young men ambush him, wrenching the minute hand from his watch—time, they declare, will no longer be "overly particularized." The signs multiply: a tower clock’s hands sawn off; names vanishing from newspapers, from buildings; the morning paper itself arriving dateless, unpaginated. Inside a coffee shop, the waitress Charlotte preaches frantic gospel of "uncontainment." Customers drink coffee without cups; the coffee remains even as the containers vanish [M:484]. At the Pelican Press, Duffey finds his colleagues—Mary Virginia Schaeffer, Salvation Sally, Margaret Stone, Absalom Stein—not resisting the chaos, but embracing it. Faith dismantles walls before his eyes. People shed clothes and skin, dissolving, merging into pulsing collective spheres. The street offers no sense. Traffic signals flash subjective commands. Vehicles glide without wheels. Men and women walk through walls. Sanctuaries fail him: St. Michael's church is "unstructured," dissolving piece by piece; the familiar Stumble-Bum bar offers nothing recognizable, no solace. Finally, Duffey confronts Morpheus, the shaper of dreams. Morpheus claims that waking and sleeping are both illusions. The cosmos itself is shrinking, collapsing back toward a single, primal dreaming cell. Duffey grapples with the god, feels the raw panic of extinction overwhelm him, then collapses. He and Morpheus become a single-celled creature swallowing itself. Morpheus calls this a beginning they have experienced before; the narrator points to a possible alternate outcome in Duffey’s old article [M:500–501]. Throughout this descent, enigmatic “Great Day” verses echo.
“The Casey Machine”
Newton Prescott, an electronics expert grappling with memory issues, narrates the history of the “Casey Machine.” This device, initially appearing in bars and parlors, reportedly allowed users to access the thoughts, actions, and secrets ("dirt") of others. It proved highly profitable for Prescott and associates like the Duckhunters. The machine's origins are unclear. Kasmir "Casey" Szymansky is named as the inventor but denies involvement, despite also being described as its "activator." The device prompted theological debate, contrasting views of the "Saved" with those of the "damned" (represented by a "soggy sinner") who saw it as a way to access universal secrets. An underground newspaper article by Josephine McSorely suggests the machine emerged from a "Particular Judgment" meeting and incorporated Prescott's theories about residual electrical energy after death ("dead-man charge") [M:506–507]. Prescott later adds dead people’s eyes to the machines for effect [M:509]. As the machine spread, it accompanied the "Casey Condition": a state of universal mind-reading (encompassing the living, dead, and unborn) as time seemingly became simultaneous. Prescott connected this phenomenon to dormant human abilities and memories stored in Earth's magnetism. While initial use focused on accessing negative information ("holy porn," "enjoyable degradation"), fuller knowledge led some people to love one another more and to champion "Good Will" [M:511–512]. Concerned this significant "Moment" would be forgotten, Prescott took steps to preserve its memory, including implanting a memory capsule in himself and arranging for federal funding and shrine status for Casey Machine locations. In the concluding addendum, Prescott identifies himself as a ghostly splinter of Casey’s personality and describes Casey shifting his guilt onto him [M:515–516], leaving his independence and reliability as a narrator in doubt.
Demetrio Glauch’s introduction presents Kasmir "Casey" Szymansky by acknowledging his numerous positive attributes (handsome, talented, friendly, kind, intelligent, generous, humorous, etc.) while immediately posing the central paradox: why was he almost universally disliked? Describes his prolific, multi-disciplinary artistic output (drawing, painting, music, verse, prose) contrasted with his compulsive destruction of most of his work (burning it in the "Black Chimney," leaving only scant, often reconstructed, remnants, notably associated with The Crock magazine). Suggests Casey's alienation stemmed from his "Elective Affinities" differing fundamentally from the norm, positing him as "slightly insane" and seeing exterior/material realities others did not. Identifies his defining characteristic and "extreme" quality as compassion, specifically his lifelong "monomania" regarding the Final Redemption of the Devil, suspected by Glauch to be a "serious sin" [M:518–519] originating in his boarding school days. Includes the text of “Red Sky in the Morning,” a poem expressing harsh judgment on Casey. Casey’s accompanying prose argues for absolute stubbornness against prevailing norms and rejects salvation that excludes anyone [M:520]. His poem “Oh Let the Devil Go” offers to take the Devil’s punishment [M:521–522]. Cites extensive commentaries on Casey by other characters (Clarence Schrade, Elena O'Higgins, Tony Apostolo, d'Alesandro, Silas and Maud Whiterice, etc.), analyzing his contradictory nature, art (doggerel verse, comic but hellish drawings, unconventional music), psychology (split identity, possible insanity), motivations (compassion, fascination with the Devil/evil), and his complex role within the cycle's events.
Novella focusing on John A. Solli/Finnegan, exploring his apparent immortality or trans-world travel through repeated "deaths" and reappearances. Partially narrated by Absalom Stein, it details Finnegan's numerous paradoxical demises and deepens the connection to his apparent identical double, Joseph Cardinal Hedayat, notably through the prophetic painting, The Resurrection of Count Finnegan. The plot structure involves the convergence of three unusual events: 1) Finnegan's genuine awakening from death or stasis on the Cuban coast, assuming his role as "Count Finnegan" in an unfolding eschatological drama, mirroring Hedayat's own commission. 2) The Sea-Bell begins ringing off the coast of San Simeon; the Martyr-Bell and Peter-Bell join it later, summoning a hidden assembly [M:560]. 3) The violent, grotesque Last Conclave in Babylonia Bagascia formally dissolves the ancient institution known as the Crowd/Ekklesia amidst ritualistic murder and desecration. The conclave hires ‘Track and Total’ to kill thirteen absent cardinals, including Hedayat [M:568–569]; John Mogul’s organization later puts prices on their doubles’ heads [M:589]. The core action follows the convergence of the thirteen "doubles" or "shadow-men"—including Finnegan, Herman Hercules, Gilberto Levine-O'Brien, Emmet/Emma Collins, John Giwa—upon the mooring-stone near San Simeon, drawn by the bells. Their journey involves travel aboard the Argo, piloted by a skeletal, masked Melchisedech (identified as the "father of all magic men"), evading bounty hunters, and sharing esoteric lore about identity, the Covenant, Saucerites, Pyramid Lords, and Dolphins. The climax occurs in a hidden underground room where the doubles hold their own conclave, electing Finnegan as Pope Finnegan the First (his secret status as Cardinal in petto is revealed). The novella concludes with the paradoxical start of his papacy, fulfilling prophecy while enraging mundane forces like "The Angry League."
“Anamnesis”
Set primarily at the Rounders' Club in St. Louis during a chaotic, exuberant post-war gathering of the core cast, referred to here as "the Duffeys." Features Melchisedech Duffey observing his creations: Absalom Stein (invoking his King Hiram of Tyre archetype), John G. Schultz/Hans (Orpheus/Faust archetype), Marie Monaghan Schultz, Dotty Yekouris, Mary Virginia Schaeffer, and the nymph-like Mary Catherine Carruthers. The group is characterized by their heightened, "overdone" nature and connection via "Duffey magic." Introduces Teresa "Show Boat" Piccone as a pivotal figure ("Duffey's/God's Masterpiece," a young saint with whom Duffey feels an immediate, profound connection; her presence miraculously improves his appearance). John A. Solli/Finnegan (appearing under multiple guises: Finn McCool, Van Ghi, Iason, Odysseus) appears at the Broadway Oyster House and performs a heroic labor (eating 100 oysters with help from a few new friends [Ana:3991–3993; PDF pages in The Man Who Talled Tales, version 5.1]). His conversation with Duffey over the oysters explores identity, art, and the structure of reality within Duffey's sphere, suggesting Teresa as a necessary second focus. The story reveals a paradoxical, extra-chronological relationship between Finnegan and Teresa—a twelve-year marriage remembered by both, possibly belonging to an alternate, discarded timeline [Ana:3994–3995]. Finnegan and Teresa later meet "in the flesh," reaffirming their bond which exists outside normal time but impacts the present reality, called here "Melchisedech World." The St. Louis gathering is a point of "reanimation" for this living, evolving world, as well as our sight of it.
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