Arthur Nersesian’s new novel about a dystopian New York, ‘The Five Books of (Robert) Moses,’ took decades to complete and is 1,506 pages long
By Jeffrey A. Trachtenberg
It took Arthur Nersesian more than 25 years to write his epic 1,506-page novel about a dystopian New York City, “The Five Books of (Robert) Moses.” His patient publisher dedicated more than 12 years to editing the book, which comes out in late July.
“As long as he kept working, I kept the faith,” says Johnny Temple, a rock musician turned book editor who co-founded the Brooklyn-based independent Akashic Books back in the 1990s and has published Mr. Nersesian since then.
Mr. Nersesian’s work is a tale of extremes. The finished product weighs more than 4 pounds. If he stacked all his manuscript pages since he began the book back in 1993 it would stand 6 feet tall, a shade taller than himself, Mr. Nersesian says. The novel is longer than the 2007 hardcover edition of Leo Tolstoy’s “War and Peace,” which unfolds across more than 1,200 pages. It also eclipses the complete and uncut 1990 edition of Stephen King’s “The Stand” at more than 1,150 pages, and it towers over David Foster Wallace’s “Infinite Jest,” published in 1996 at more than 1,050 pages.
“I’d write other novels, and while waiting to hear back, that was the project I’d return to,” says Mr. Nersesian, 61 years old, whose 1997 debut novel, “The F—-Up” earned him what his publisher describes as a loyal cult following. “This could have easily gone to 2,000 pages, maybe more.”
He’s had other successes. His novel “Dogrun,” for example, was made into the 2016 movie “My Dead Boyfriend” directed by Anthony Edwards and starring Heather Graham.
In his latest book, the story opens in Rescue City, an edgy recreation of New York City built in the Nevada desert following a 1970 terrorist attack in Manhattan. An epidemic also plays a role: Women who live there suffer from a virus preventing them from having children; other residents end up in an underground facility where a disease spreads. The story jumps around in time; some of it occurs in the original New York.
Main characters include a fictionalized Robert Moses, the powerful public official who reshaped New York City and its environs, and his brother Paul, an electrical engineer. A difficult relationship between the two has dire consequences. There are also pop-culture favorites from the period, including psychedelic evangelist Timothy Leary; urbanologist Jane Jacobs, and poet Allen Ginsberg. All are intended to show readers how the value of culture erodes in an isolated world.
“The Plot Against America,” and Philip K. Dick’s “The Man in the High Castle,” both of which have been made into TV shows.
“At some point in the writing process I realized that so many of the new people who had come to this city had no idea of its rich cultural history and I wanted to bring it to life,” he said. “I was trying to show a society in crisis, with everything from the polarization of political parties to the post-9/11 world, where civil liberties are taken away in the name of protecting society as a whole.”
He stuck with the project for more than two decades because he wanted to explore the relationship between people and their government. “It was like peeling an onion,” he says. “You discover something new, and then it takes you somewhere else.”
Akashic has printed 5,000 copies of “The Five Books of (Robert) Moses,” and priced them at $44.95 each. Its imposing size will likely attract readers, said one retailer who has ordered two copies.
“Even if I didn’t work in a bookstore, I would buy this book,” said Jason Kennedy, the buyer for the Boswell Book Co. in Milwaukee. Creating a cohesive story across such a large canvas is a challenge. “Part of the charm of a really long drawn-out book is to see if a writer can do it,” he says.
The audiobook is expected to run 55 to 56 hours. “When it comes to audiobooks, often the longer it is the better it sells,” said Ron Formica, who acquired the rights for Tantor Media, which produces digital audiobooks and spoken content.
Tantor Media’s average audiobook lasts about 10 hours.
Akashic is best known for its 2011 smash hit “Go the F— to Sleep” written by Adam Mansbach and illustrated by Ricardo Cortes, and a series of noir anthologies.
Mr. Temple, who played bass guitar for the band Girls Against Boys and is the sole owner of Akashic Books, says he had never edited, published or marketed a book before starting out. His first title, published in 1997, was Mr. Nersesian’s formerly self-published debut novel about a young man living in New York in the early 1980s. A friend of Mr. Temple’s bought a copy from Mr. Nersesian when the author was working in a furniture store; Mr. Temple liked it, as did the friends he shared it with.
“I thought, I bet it’s not getting its due,” says Mr. Temple. After hunting down Mr. Nersesian’s street address, he introduced himself by postcard. Mr. Temple wrote that he was in a band, starting a publishing company, and that if Mr. Nersesian was interested, he should give him a call.
Mr. Temple’s phone rang a few days later.
Main photo: Arthur Nersesian is a New York City-based author who published his first novel back in the 1990s, and has developed what his publisher describes as a cult following. CREDIT: JAMES MAHER
https://www.wsj.com/articles/this-book-isnt-war-and-peace-its-bigger-11587301201
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