Satiric Novel-Play Puts Thinking on Trial

What Were You Thinking? Oh, I Get It, You Weren't by VHYHN QWYHX VHYRZ

What do you get when you take classical forms of satire, Greek tragedy, theatre of the absurd, philosophy, wordplay and poetry and mash them together to comment upon the current state of life in America?

Well, it could only be one thing — the unique and complex work titled What Were You Thinking? Oh, I Get It. You Weren’t!: An Apology for Thinking, An American Satire-Noir (a Solo Reader’s/Single’s Book Version), Patriate Our Political Parties and Quash Ptyranny & Child Abuse Worldwide, a Book and Novel-Play by VHYHN QWYHX VHYRZ™.

In this four-part “novel-play,” we are introduced to THINKING and THOUGHT, co-defendants accused of a myriad of crimes and inconveniences against America and Americans. In VHYRZ’s world, THINKING and THOUGHT are the origins of a social disease that threatens the unity of national character and the contentment of its citizens. THINKING and THOUGHT sow discord and dissent. They lead people’s minds down a myriad of circuitous and digressive paths, creating a never-ending hunger for yet more thinking and thought. They can even be the impetus for decisions and actions that may be deemed unlawful, unethical or un-American.

Like the fruit of the Tree of Knowledge, THINKING and THOUGHT are the source of sin, strife and sorrow.

THINKING AND THOUGHT ON TRIAL

Testifying against THINKING and THOUGHT are SPACE, TIME and DIMENSION — none of whom comprehend the defendants’ value. Aligned for and against are groups of protesters and counter-protesters outside the courtroom walls. It soon becomes apparent, though, that the real foe is the (inaptly named) American justice system itself. 

But this plotline is only a framework to lend structure to VHYRZ’s explorations through a vast and wild jungle of imaginative thought experiments where the personal and the political intersect again and again over questions of law and ethics, unity and liberty, tradition and evolution, rights and accountability. VHYRZ uses two main vehicles to do so: satire (in which absurdist extremes reveal the weaknesses of people and ideas) and wordplay (in which the language itself reveals novel insights).

In his thought experiments, VHYRZ draws upon personal experience, demonstrating how a sobering family court case involving child abuse can result in neither justice nor restitution for the victims. He points to examples in the public arena as well: the dissolution of Roe v. Wade protections, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling on presidential immunity, the rise of AI in curation of information and decision-making, among other contemporary issues. Everything is fair game as VHYRZ pokes and prods at the nature and role of truth in the court of opinion, self-governance in a democracy under siege, and escalating vitriol in a dwindling arena for logical, civil debate.

A BOOK FOR ACTIVE, NOT PASSIVE, READERS

Our cast of characters takes up various philosophical and political positions throughout the work, keeping readers engaged with absurd humor, poetic interludes and witty turns of phrase. The court proceedings are waylaid by digression and hijacked by pontification. Arguments are taken to their limits and end in a tangled unraveling of logic and sanity. Things do not bode well for our heroic duo as their defense testimony is pushed further and further back and tempers grow rancorous.

Along the way, we encounter densely packed layers of meaning, riddles to solve, Biblical and classical references to look up, and unconventional typography to navigate. You could read this book multiple times and always discover something you missed. Perhaps this is why it also comes in a “dual reader” format, where it can be read aloud as a sort of dialogue between two people. (It even comes in “grandparent” editions with bolder, easier-to-read fonts.) Regardless of edition, What Were You Thinking? is endless entertainment for your brain. 

In short, this is no idle beach read, nor is it intended as such. Like all good satire, it’s the kind of humor that not only makes you laugh; it makes you think.