The Sardonic Arm

audiobook

The Sardonic Arm

by Maxwell Bodenheim

EN·~39 minutes·31 chapters

Chapters

31 total

CONCERNING AMERICA

1:17

CRY, NAKED AND PERSONAL

1:45

FANTASY

2:26

HATRED OF METAPHOR AND SIMILE

1:31

TIME, INFINITY, AND ETERNITY, DESCEND UPON A BLACK DERBY HAT

1:31

I WALK UPON A STREET

1:30

THE INCURABLE MYSTIC ANSWERS WESTERN AMBITIONS

1:00

PLATONIC NARRATIVE

1:07

PORTRAITS - I.

4:36

NEGRO CRIMINAL

0:48

Description

From the opening, the novel launches into a fever‑dream of modern America, where clowns, clergymen, gunmen and politicians swirl together in a chaotic dance of language. Through a chorus of vivid, almost mythic figures, it sketches a society that is both absurd and hauntingly recognizable, probing how we mask desires beneath mud‑slicked façades. The prose is lyrical yet jagged, turning everyday street scenes into a surreal theater of conflict. As the first act unfolds, the reader is drawn into a world where identity is fluid and satire blurs with sincerity.

Interludes of oak‑tree monologue pull the narrative toward a quieter, philosophical core, suggesting nature watches human folly with patient indifference. A Martian scholar named Torban bursts onto the stage, using humor to dismantle the pretensions of critics and artists alike, turning criticism into a carnival of competing virtues. The book balances biting social commentary with playful metaphors, inviting listeners to contemplate the fragile dance between creation and destruction. Its experimental structure rewards attentive ears, promising a thought‑provoking journey that lingers after the final word.

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Details

Language

en

Duration

~39 minutes (38K characters)

Publisher of text edition

Project Gutenberg

Credits

Produced by Tim Lindell, Chuck Greif and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net (This book was produced from images made available by the HathiTrust Digital Library.)

Release date

2019-08-17

Rights

Public domain in the USA.

About the author

Maxwell Bodenheim

Maxwell Bodenheim

1893–1954

A sharp-edged poet and novelist of the early modernist scene, he moved through Chicago and Greenwich Village with a reputation as bold as his writing. His life became almost as legendary as his books, ending in one of the most tragic stories in American literary bohemia.

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