BEGIN:VCALENDAR VERSION:2.0 PRODID:-//ArchBridge//Site Calendar//EN CALSCALE:GREGORIAN METHOD:PUBLISH BEGIN:VEVENT UID:calendar-event-35@archbridge.us DTSTAMP:20260924T200108Z DTSTART:20261011T000000Z DTEND:20261011T030000Z SUMMARY:AMERICAN FICTION Special Literary Event DESCRIPTION:Fiction of the American heartland featuring Theodore Judson of ARK Press (author of Fitzpatrick's War and The Timerman)\, John Jay Stancl iff of Farthest Heaven (author of FEDBOOK)\, and more. Optional drinks Fri day\, October 9 at Thaxton Speakeasy (1009 Olive St). Afterparty drinks at Brennan's (316 N Euclid Ave). Ticket includes two drink tickets. Hale Roo m on second floor.\n\nMore about the event and why someone might want to g o:\n\nThe clearer picture is that this is not simply a conventional scienc e-fiction book event. It appears to sit inside a small\, self-consciously “dissident” literary ecosystem: independent publishers\, online commentato rs\, and podcasters interested in hierarchy\, tradition\, masculinity\, re ligion\, national identity\, and critiques of liberal modernity.\n\nA corr ection to my earlier answer: John Jay Stancliff did not necessarily receiv e a “Pierce.” Pierce is his second novel\, following FEDBOOK. The event wo rding seems to mean “this year’s Pierce\,” not an award. Also\, Farthest H eaven’s own material identifies its founder as Bill Ballard\, while your l isting says Will Ballard—possibly a typo or a different person.\n\nTheodor e Judson\n\nJudson is the most conventionally established literary figure in the group. He is a Wyoming-based science-fiction writer and former high -school teacher\, best known for Fitzpatrick’s War\, a “future history” ab out the Yukon Confederacy\, a successor state to the United States. The Ti merman returns to that setting.\n\nThe ideological interest comes mainly f rom the fictional society Judson depicts. The Yukon Confederacy is describ ed as:\n\naristocratic and governed through a limited franchise\;\nreligio usly Reformed Protestant\;\neconomically autarkic\;\noriented toward the c ommon good rather than wealth accumulation\;\nsocially regulated through s tigma and strong communal norms.\n\nThe book also raises explicitly politi cal and religious questions\, including whether Christians have positive o bligations toward foreigners. Those are themes about authority\, social co hesion\, hierarchy\, national community\, and the limits of universal huma nitarianism. But it would be too strong to conclude from the novel alone t hat Judson personally endorses every feature of the Yukon Confederacy.\n\n John Jay Stancliff\n\nStancliff is a newer\, more overtly “cult” or subcul tural author. His first novel\, FEDBOOK\, was released by Farthest Heaven\ ; his second\, Pierce\, is presented as a multigenerational story involvin g Montana\, the Iraq War\, masculinity\, family\, work\, inheritance\, and reconciliation. Farthest Heaven markets Pierce as “a knight’s tale in the modern age\,” which signals a deliberately traditional\, chivalric\, and anti-ironic frame.\n\nThe available evidence does not establish a precise political doctrine for Stancliff. What can be said is that his work is bei ng positioned against contemporary literary norms: it emphasizes male prot agonists\, military experience\, regional identity\, moral seriousness\, f amily continuity\, and older heroic ideals.\n\nBill/Will Ballard and Farth est Heaven\n\nBallard appears to be the organizer\, publisher\, and networ k-builder. Farthest Heaven is not just a bookstore or ordinary literary pr ess: it publishes authors such as Stancliff and promotes a broader literar y-cultural project. Its connection to Book Club From Hell is especially si gnificant because the podcast has featured episodes on FEDBOOK and Farthes t Heaven itself.\n\nThe press’s apparent niche is fiction for readers diss atisfied with mainstream publishing—particularly readers seeking books cen tered on men\, tradition\, warfare\, religious or civilizational questions \, and alternative political imaginaries. That does not automatically make every book or person “extremist\,” but it does place Farthest Heaven clos er to the online heterodox or dissident-right literary world than to mains tream speculative fiction.\n\nThe Prudentialist\n\nThe Prudentialist is th e least transparent figure here. He or she is presented under a pseudonym\ , hosts a podcast\, and serves as emcee. I would not assign a specific ide ology without primary material directly identifying the person’s views.\n\ nThe name “Prudentialist” suggests an interest in practical political judg ment rather than abstract egalitarian or revolutionary theories\, but that is only an inference from the branding. The important point is that the e mcee is part of the same media circuit as these publishers and podcasts\, not a neutral literary moderator in the usual institutional sense.\n\nBook Club From Hell\n\nThis partnership provides the strongest clue about the event’s cultural atmosphere. Book Club From Hell describes itself as a boo k club for “the weirdest book club on the planet\,” and its episode list r anges from C. S. Lewis\, Oswald Spengler\, Ernst Jünger\, and Ivan Illich to highly provocative\, extremist\, obscene\, conspiratorial\, or delibera tely transgressive material. It has also hosted discussions with Stancliff and Ballard.\n\nThat programming suggests an audience interested in taboo -breaking\, anti-establishment ideas\, dark or marginal literature\, and i ntellectual provocation. Discussing a book does not mean endorsing it\, bu t the selection of texts shows that transgression and ideological heterodo xy are part of the appeal.\n\nWhat connects them?\n\nThe strongest common threads appear to be:\n\nIndependent publishing outside the mainstream lit erary establishment.\nA preference for serious\, masculine\, heroic\, or c ivilizational themes.\nInterest in tradition\, religion\, hierarchy\, nati onhood\, and social cohesion.\nSuspicion of liberal individualism and cont emporary cultural orthodoxies.\nA deliberate willingness to discuss unfash ionable\, controversial\, or taboo works.\nA shared audience built through podcasts\, small presses\, online communities\, and in-person events.\n\n Ark Press reinforces that picture. Its launch materials describe a “Great American Male Reader” and feature books involving guns\, military conflict \, Confederate gold\, American historical mythology\, Mars revolution\, an d adventure aimed particularly at young men. That is not proof of a single political platform\, but it is a clear cultural positioning.\n\nWhy would anyone attend?\n\nA person might attend because they:\n\ngenuinely like J udson’s science fiction and want to hear about The Timerman\;\nwant to dis cover fiction unavailable through mainstream publishing\;\nare interested in traditionalist\, religious\, nationalist\, or post-liberal ideas\;\nenj oy literary communities built around controversy and outsider status\;\nwa nt to meet authors and publishers directly\;\nare curious about how online “dissident” intellectual networks are turning toward fiction and publishi ng.\n\nThe event may also appeal to someone studying the contemporary righ t culturally rather than electorally: how political ideas are communicated through novels\, podcasts\, historical myth\, masculinity\, religion\, an d alternative publishing.\n\nThe reason to be cautious is that the event’s value depends heavily on what you want. If you want a neutral author talk or mainstream literary criticism\, this probably is not it. If you want t o understand or participate in a small reactionary/heterodox literary scen e\, it could be unusually revealing. The most intellectually worthwhile ap proach would be to attend skeptically: ask how much of the fictional socia l order is meant as critique versus aspiration\, what “tradition” is being defended\, who is excluded from the imagined community\, and whether the organizers are offering substantive ideas or mainly cultivating an opposit ional identity. LOCATION:The Schlafly Tap Room\, 2100 Locust St\, St. Louis\, MO 63103\, US A URL:https://luma.com/caszaqwy END:VEVENT END:VCALENDAR