Presenter Devika Misra, and writer, T.A. Morton, talk to Jon about his debut dystopian novel, Gus: The Life & Opinions of the Last Raffles’ Banded Langur, nature’s response to the world we have created, the role of the novel, social media, talking animals, the local and the universal, laughter, Grand Theft Auto set in Singapore with raging monkeys, and wildness in literature.
Books mentioned
Gus: The Life & Opinions of the Last Raffles’ Banded Langur, Jon Gresham (Epigram Books 2024)
The Odyssey, Homer, Trans. Emily Wilson (Norton 2017)
Ulysses by the Merlion, Edwin Thumboo (Heinemann 1979)
Joseph Campbell’ Hero’s Journey, which Gus’s journey & the novel do not follow
For critiques of the Campbell Monomyth see here, The Heroine's Journey: Woman's Quest for Wholeness, Maureen Murdock (Shambhala 1990), 45 Master Characters, Victoria Lynn Schmidt (Writer’s Digest Books 2001), here and here. There is a need for less individualistic, Eurocentric, heteronormative “hero’s journeys” in literature.
Other links
More about Gus on Jon’s website
On animals talking:
The Animals in That Country, Laura Jean McKay (Scribe 2020)
Fox 8, George Saunders (Random House 2013)
26 Monkeys, Also the Abyss, Kij Johnson (Clarkesworld Issue 150 - March 2019)
The Evolution of Trickster Stories Among the Dogs of North Park After the Change, Kij Johnson (Coyote Road: Trickster Tales 2007)
Elmer, Gerry Alanguilan (Epigram Books 2011)
Elizabeth Costello, JM Coetzee (Vintage 2004)