Below you’ll find Chapter 17 of Pluto Walks the Earth, the satirical novel I’ve been sharing with you for the past four months — and will be for the next 10 months to follow. This installment happens to be more fragment than full chapter: the vivid poetry of Candy Tran Dawkins, who of course does not exist as the whole story is made up. Because it’s so brief, we’re sending this chapter out in addition to the usual Wednesday email.
We’re also taking the opportunity to see how you are enjoying Pluto and company. If someone said to you two months ago — “Hey, wanna read a not-quite-murder-mystery consisting almost entirely of exposition and retelling of previous action and dialogue?” — maybe the offer wouldn’t have seemed all that enticing. And yet … well, that’s what we’d like to know, the “and yet.” As this eccentric and not necessarily reliable cast of characters recalls their weirdly eventful year of Pluto, have they begun to take shape for you? Are their personas distinct and engaging? Do their various journeys, spiritual and otherwise, resonate at all? Do their interactions reveal anything about friendship, passion, politics, business, media or the Metaphysics Industrial Complex? Are you curious about who the corpus delicti will be, and why the guileless Pluto McDowell feels obliged to disclaim murder?