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The Dewey Decimal System
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'''''The Dewey Decimal System''''' is a 2011 [[science fiction]]/[[noir fiction|noir]] novel by [[Nathan Larson]]. It was first published by [[Akashic Books]].
==Synopsis==
In a post-apocalyptic New York City, an amnesiac veteran — nicknamed "Dewey Decimal" for his self-imposed task of reorganizing the books in the remains of the [[New York Public Library]] — is an [[mob enforcer|enforcer]] for the city's District Attorney.
==Reception==
''[[PopMatters]]'' lauded Larson's characterization, and stated that Decimal's many flaws — in addition to amnesia, he also has [[obsessive-compulsive disorder]] — make him an [[archetype|archetypical]] [[private eye]].<ref name=PopMatters>[http://bit.ly/30YSNF4 Selective Amnesia, OCD Ticks and Other Useful Character Flaws in 'The Dewey Decimal System'], by Jimmy Callaway, at ''[[PopMatters]]''; published April 21, 2011; retrieved June 3, 2019</ref>
''[[The AV Club]]'' praised the novel's premise and setting, with "patches of roughhewn poetry", but overall found it to be "frustrating" and "stilted (and) self-conscious", stating that Larson had insufficient "storytelling skill to match (the novel's) voice and vision".<ref name=AVClub>[http://bit.ly/2KqMCUG Nathan Larson: ''The Dewey Decimal System''], reviewed by Jason Heller, at ''[[The AV Club]]''; published May 5, 2011; retrieved June 3, 2019</ref>
''[[Publishers Weekly]]'' felt that the relationships between characters "fail(ed) to engage", and that the "violence too often substitute(d) for plot coherence".<ref name=PW>[http://bit.ly/317SYOD The Dewey Decimal System], reviewed at ''[[Publishers Weekly]]''; published May 14, 2011; retrieved June 3, 2019</ref>
==Origins==
Larson has said that the book's genesis was the image of a "beautifully dressed black man, asleep on the floor of the [[New York Public Library Main Branch#Rose Main Reading Room|Rose Reading Room in the New York Public Library main branch]]", and that the character of Dewey Decimal is based partly on his cousins and grandfather (who were all veterans), and partly on a homeless man of Larson's acquaintance named "Chicago" (who "slept rough but dressed like a [[mod (subculture)|mod squad]] [[Desmond Dekker]] type").<ref name=LARofB>[http://bit.ly/2KqMDrI Who Wants to Live in a Fucking Utopia?: An Interview with Nathan Larson], by Jim Ruland, in the ''[[Los Angeles Review of Books]]''; published December 14, 2015; retrieved June 3, 2019</ref>
==References==
[[Category:Dystopian novels]]
[[Category:2011 novels]]
June 04, 2019 at 11:36AM
