Pisces, Peter Sotos, with an introduction by Dr Miriam B. Stimbers (TransVisceral Books 2017)
March 2016. Anglo-American academic Miriam Stimbers leaves her apartment in St Louis to attend an ’80s nostalgia concert at a local rock-arena. Behind her, she leaves transgressive author Peter Sotos to fish-sit her prized tank of tropical fish. Four hours later, Stimbers returns to her apartment to discover the tank empty and Sotos lying unconscious on the floor.
When he revives, Sotos describes how, minutes after Stimbers’ departure, the apartment was invaded by a masked gang.
He remembers trying to fight them off.
Then it all went black…
Pisces is a detailed examination of that fateful March day and its continuing repercussions. It is a true-crime book like no other, written from the inside by a no-holds-barred author who has been at the heart of events right from the beginning. As Dr Stimbers writes in her introduction:
Peter was a rock throughout the preliminary bewilderment-and-grieving process. It was truly a great comfort when he told me that, despite the brief time he knew my fish, he felt that he and the eighty-six of them had forged a genuine and permanent bond. Furthermore, despite the brutal assault to which he was subjected and the stress-induced hiccups he suffered for two days after the fish-napping, Peter barely left my side for the rest of the month, helping me to process my initial shock and horror and trying to assist the police investigation in any way he could. He also came up with the most plausible theory as to the gang’s identity. No trace of any break-in could be discovered, nor, despite detailed examination of multiple CCTV-feeds, was it possible to identify any strangers entering or leaving the apartment-block during the relevant time-period. But, while the gang was in the apartment, they re-arranged my bookshelves and anonymously purchased me a gift-subscription to the Journal of Forensic Entomology.
Peter’s suggestion?
“They must have been ninja librarians, Miri,” he said.
I concur. It’s the only explanation that fits all the facts. (Introduction, pg. ix)
But why would ninja librarians fish-nap a set of tropical fish? Where have they taken their piscine prizes? When will they issue a ransom demand? These questions continue to haunt all those involved in this unique tragedy. Pisces examines each aspect of the case from every conceivable angle and will only serve to trans-toxify Sotos’s rebarbative renown as an edgily incendiary archaeologist of the most photophobic furlongs of the counter-cultural complexus.
Previously pre-posted on Papyrocentric Performativity:
• K-9 Konundrum — review of Dog by Peter Sotos
• Toxic Twosome — review of Doll by Peter Sotos and James Havoc
Forthcoming Fetidity from TransVisceral Books…
• Stiff for Stiffs: Kandid Konfessions of a Korpse-Kopulator, דוד קרקשׁ
• Slime-Sniffer: The Norman Nekrophile Story, Nicolae Feralescu
• Pay to Slay: The Toxic True Tale of the Mersey Murder-Machine, Dr Samuel P. Salatta
Papyrocentric Performativity 