Summary of Troglodytes Watch

This is a satirical fantasy featuring Troglodytes troglodytes, the winter wren, a direct descendant of the dinosaurs. Troglodytes survived the disastrous disruptions caused by the meteorite that brought an end to the dinosaur age. He survived the disruptive upheaval likely because of his diminutive proportions, secretive nature and watchful spirit. This tale begins with three ancestors who escaped from a tribe of headhunters in Borneo around 700 BC and ends with their descendants in a nuclear waste dump island in the northwest Pacific Ocean. There they believe they will wait out the next expected evolution changing life arresting upheaval. The foibles, frolics and conflicts of the various generations are watched and often influenced by the spirit of Troglodytes, and they progress through Japan, China, Mid-East, Europe, the American colonies, Midwest, out west, and onto some Pacific islands. This tale is also infused with commentary some literal, some facetious, and some deliciously infuriating. The figures are drawn by the author and the foreign words and expressions should be no burden to the reader. Relax, read, and enjoy the book as a palliative diversion in our time.

This tale originated as a soliloquy based on a disorderly collection of unrelated topics, events and expressions, which were later fashioned into a thin slice of history to give it some sense of order. Latin quotations were added to give it some sense of purpose, namely, to show how little human reactions to life and fortune have changed since Roman times: “Nothing is being said here that hasn’t been said before,” (Terence, 150 BCE). A largely concocted genealogy, with bits of genuine genealogical possibilities as well, were added to further increase order and purpose. Troglodytes (the wren) was also included in the frontispiece, first and last chapters, and allusions passim, because he might well have been the sole witness of many such events since the Mesozoic Era.