The Anatomist’s Tale
by Tauno Biltsted
“A marvel of knowingness and concision... This short book contains a vast world.”
—Paul La Farge, author of The Night Ocean
FIC014000 FICTION / Historical / General
FIC047000 FICTION / Sea Stories
Print: $16.00, EPUB $9.99
Print ISBN: 978-1-941360-33-0
Digital ISBN: 978-1-941360-34-7
Publication Date: May 5, 2020
Publicity Contact: Feliza Casano, publicity@lanternfishpress.com
"Glorious Marshalsea! The cells here—slick with algae and vomit, sweaty with the resigned terror of their occupants—have seen the end of many rogues and more than a few innocents."
Born into abject poverty in the British Empire, our narrator aspires to a better life as a ship’s surgeon—until a tyrannical captain provokes a mutiny, forcing him into a life of piracy and eventually to a tropical commune of maroons called New Madagascar.
Told through a series of confessions to those who visit the narrator during his imprisonment at Marshalsea, The Anatomist's Tale relates one man’s brush with the heady freedom of outlaws—and the price of returning to “civilization.”
Photo Credit: Tamara Staples
About the Author
Tauno Biltsted has been a cab driver, squatter on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, mediator and facilitator, and roustabout construction worker. His fiction has been published in Rosebud Magazine and the Akashic Books Mondays are Murder series, and his nonfiction has been published in World War 3 Illustrated, Wobblies!: A Graphic History of the IWW, and Perspectives on Anarchist Theory. He holds a master’s degree in International Relations.
Talking Points for Booksellers & Librarians
Adventure on the high seas meets economic reality in this meticulously-researched historical fiction
Cory Doctorow meets Robinson Crusoe
An exploration of outsider economic structures, like piracy contracts and utopian communes of marooned sailors
Praise for The Anatomist’s Tale
“This is a sad story of exile from the English homeland and a salty tale of piracy in the Caribbean, which leads to further adventures on four of the Seven Seas and the discovery of a curious self-governing utopia among Kru, Maya, Irish, Welsh, and scouser maroons in Central America. With all the authenticity of the social historian, Biltsted writes in a swift, beautiful style. These ‘confessions’ lead to an inevitable destination, leaving the reader pensive, satisfied, and ever willing to lend a hand, hoist a sail, and set out anew.”
—Peter Linebaugh, author of Red Round Globe Hot Burning
“Tauno Biltsted's The Anatomist's Tale is a marvel of knowingness and concision: a tale of piracy on the high seas which steers clear of melodrama (though there's plenty of drama), and opts instead for a rich and surprising account of the society of pirates, and the ocean deserts and island paradises in which they lived. This short book contains a vast world.”
—Paul La Farge, author of The Night Ocean