Operatics

Atet A.D. is the third volume of Nathaniel Mackey's ongoing epistolary fiction. Like the first two volumes, Bedouin Hornbook and Djbot Baghostus's Run, this work is written by the composer/multi-instrumentalist N., a founding member of a band formerly known as the Mystic Horn Society.The Village Voice wrote "Bedouin Hornbook struck me as the most moving and intelligent fiction about modern jazz I'd ever read." Atet A.D. continues that tale in letters that span a seven-month period beginning shortly after Thelonious Monk's death and culminating in the band recording their first album on John Coltrane's birthday. N. chronicles and meditates upon, among other events, Penguin's return from seclusion, the band's adoption of a new name, and a perplexing twist of their expressive powers.