Delusions Before Nightfall

Delusions Before Nightfall is a selection of poems, stories, and essays from longer pieces written over a period of more than 50 years, the work of a fictive poet named Artz Carbuncle. The pieces collected here vary in tone from whimsical humor to satire to solemn expressions of horror at human folly, but all portray an individual's experiences of some of the issues affecting America since the 1960's. They are arranged under four general headings: A Nation That Incorporates Oppression examines the effects of decisions by which the American political system has increasingly handed over power to corporate business interests. A Culture That Engenders Conflicts of Identity explores the effects on individual lives of our increasing awareness of issues of gender and gender identity. A Culture That Fosters Intergenerational Division depicts some of the effects of those conflicts between generations that have been so prominent since the 1960's. The last section of the book, A Nation That Rejects Nature Turns Biopathic, presents a series of musings on our failure to respond meaningfully to the environmental crisis. The book is introduced by a personal essay by the actual author, Ty Bouldin.