Back on the bus. Going home to Ohio. Surrounded by poor Latinos, blacks, and Asians. Got a text message on my cell phone from Tony, it said, “Unstable, broke up with girlfriend just now.” “Who that girl Ashley?” “Yeah, Ashley.” I laughed. Couldn't sleep on the bus. Everything was dramatic and weird. The sun came up, lighting up the bus. Everyone was sleeping. Looked out the window.
Footnote
Chapters 12, 13, 14, and 15 of Thomas Hobbes' Leviathan: The book was given to me by Sam Pink, a writer from Chicago. Sam Pink lives in a small apartment with his brother and currently has a mohawk. Sam Pink gave me the book because I sent him a copy of The Human War and Treatise.
The Second Treatise of Government of John Locke: I got the copy at a thrift store in 2002 in Eugene, Oregon. Eugene, Oregon is a really great place. There are redwoods and hippies everywhere. There is an excess of jam band music. No jam band music was used in the making of this novel.
The Social Contract and The Origin of Inequality contained in the same book of Jean-Jacques Rousseau: I got the book at a thrift store in Youngstown called Dorian Books. Dorian Books is really cool. The owner is named Jack. He sits with his cat all day waiting for customers to come in. Usually I'm the only one in there. The cat walks around and minds its own business.
A Theory of Justice and Political Liberalism by John Rawls: Sometimes I daydream about writing a gospel of John Rawls. In the gospel there would be a guy with long hair and a beard. He would go around ghettos, gated communities, urban areas like Times Square, Bedford Street, Brooklyn, cornfields, rice patties, oil fields proclaiming The Original Position. He would go up to small children and teach them the ways of The Original Position. Children would kiss his cheek in love. Women would want to have his babies. It would be a good gospel.
What is Metaphysics by Martin Heidegger: My mother gave me this book for Christmas when I was 16. She said, “Noah, you're a man now. You have pubic hair and you can get boners. You need to learn about life, women, and cars. Here is a copy of What is Metaphysics by Martin Heidegger.” My brothers and dad clapped and told me they loved me. I told my mother, “I love you mom.” My mother smiled, my dad smiled, my brothers smiled. Everyone smiled because it was Christmas morning.
The United States Constitution: I got that book as soon as I was born. I was within the border of America, it was my fate. I came out of my mother's vagina and someone came in the room wearing a military uniform, pointed a gun at my head, and then threw the The U.S. Constitution at me. I took it and said, “Goo, goo, gaa, gaa.” My mother smiled, talked about Isiah Berlin for a while and said, “This baby will grow up to be a terrible jackass.” Everyone in the room laughed because they had contracted together to spend the next 18 years raising a jackass instead of an emotional stable well-balanced well-ordered high functioning individual.
About the Author
Noah Cicero is the author of The Human War (Fugue State Press, 2003), The Condemned (Six Gallery Press, 2006), Burning Babies (Parlor Press, 2006), Treatise (A-Head Publishing, 2008), and The Insurgent (Blatt, 2010). Since its release, The Human War has become a favorite of the literary underground and is being adapted to film. This is his sixth novel.