Pagan Operetta

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Pagan Operetta (1998) is a collection of poetry and experimental prose by Carl Hancock Rux, loosely inspired by Homer's Odyssey. Structured as a poetic memoir, Rux begins the first section reflecting on his early childhood in foster care after the death of his alcoholic grandmother ("Blue Candy"); reveals an early experience with sexual abuse ("Red Velvet Dress Lullaby"); pays homage to his biological parents: a woman institutionalized for schizophrenia and the unknown father of her child ("Wasted Seed"); revisits the jazz music and spousal abuse of his adoptive parents and concludes with a surreal short story entitled Asphalt (which would later inspire his novel of the same name) about a boy walking through the ruins of an urban landscape as rose buds blossom from his skin. The second section ("Elmina Blues") details a life changing experience in Ghana, West Africa where Rux (as the unnamed protagonist) goes to avoid a dying childhood friend and escape his past. In Ghana's shanty towns, his young guide, Kwabinais an illiterate teenager who seduces middle aged female tourists and dreams of coming to America to make a fortune selling African drums. An ill-fated sexual encounter with a prostitute in Nkrumah Circle ends the section. The third section is a collection of poems, among them "No Black Male Show" and "Miguel". Pagan Operetta won the 1999 Village Voice Literary Prize.