Among the Lilliputians

Faust. Herein, the classic tale of a deal with the devil in three parts. Part I: Empathy from the Devil. Enoch Edward Coward is a deeply troubled soul, reeling under unbearable guilt. Friendless and all but faithless, three steps and a frittering squirrel are all that separate him from a cliff face and eternity. But the friend he’d have least expected appears: the devil himself. And all the world is about to be turned upside down. Part II: .… and the Money Will Roll Right in. Deal with the devil consummated. Enlightenment acquired. Yet nothing happens as expected. Enoch finds himself free from all constraints of superstition, richer than God, and filled with power and all his heart’s desire. The mind, however, is a fickle mistress and a terrible servant. Part III: The Reckoning. Enter the whorl—the Faustian reckoning. Enoch’s madness and prior faith combine to bring all existence down upon his head. Endless horror beckons: until a light appears. Or, does it …? Each part in Among the Lilliputians is distinct in style and subject, reflecting the wild variance of the protagonist’s inner life. Loosely autobiographical, the story also weaves the disparate arcs of Faust’s historical characterization—e.g., redemption in Goethe, or the damnation of Marlowe. In the end, Enoch and the reader also find themselves right where they began: on the edge of a most beautiful precipice.

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