Read the introductory chapter from Perihelion: The Ghost of Novels Past It was a particularly sultry night in mid-July of 2020, almost tropical with humidity although this was southeastern Wisconsin. I was tossing and turning, throwing off sheets damp with sweat, mostly tormented with worries: there was a pandemic racing through the world that nobody seemed able (and some unwilling) to stop. But there was more that was keeping me awake. The fear of the virus had kept us from visiting our favorite restaurants, carry-out was not quite up to our standards, and I was getting bored with my usual repertoire of chile, pulled pork, and the obligatory bratwursts. I had decided to do something atypical, perhaps exotic. Asian fare, East Indian cuisine, Ethiopian dishes, all required ingredients I was unlikely to find at our Piggly Wiggly store, however. I settled on Welsh Rarebit for no reason other than that I had been perusing some books from my library that reprinted old comic strips and h
