An Archive of Human Nonsense

Jason Rolfe

“Along the tavern’s back wall he found a small writing desk, around which the floor was stained ink-black and littered with loose scraps of paper. Atop the desk he found a small stack of handwritten newsletters entitled The Archive of Human Nonsense. He picked one up. It was dated 17 April, 1817—eight months previous—and had been hand-penned in German running script. From front to back the small newsletter was eight pages long. It opened with a list of names, twenty-two in all, and closed with a watercolour picture of a giant red rooster . . .”

Thus begins an existential journey through Vienna’s streets and one man’s guilt-laden memories. From mountebanks, puppet showmen, and trainers of performing monkeys, to the strange Mechanical Theatre of Sebastian von Schwenenfeld, the journey becomes a quest not to find meaning but to define it.

About the Author
Jason Rolfe was born and raised in Southwestern Ontario. His work has appeared in numerous online and print venues, including Sein und Werden, Pure Slush, Cease Cows, Apocrypha & Abstraction, The Journal of Experimental Fiction, and Black Scat Review. His first collection, An Inconvenient Corpse, appeared as number 30 in Black Scat Books’ Absurdist Texts and Documents Series (Black Scat Books, 2014). He regularly contributes to Black Scat Books’ online journal, Le Scat Noir.

Snuggly Slim edition, n. 8 – Paperback, 46 pages
Release date: February 27, 2017
ISBN-13: 978-1-94381-329-2
Price: US$7.00