Nicholas Christopher does many things well in his deftly written, thought-provoking novels, but his stand-out trait is his ability to make the fantastic believable. His work adds a uniquely American fillip to magical realism. And it renders the premise of “The Bestiary,” which is built around a search for information about animals refused entry to Noah’s ark, utterly plausible.
Xeno Atlas’ upbringing is as unusual as his name. His father, a Greek sailor, is gone far more often than he is in port. His Italian mother died in childbirth. For all practical purposes, his family is his maternal grandmother, the only member of his mother’s extended family willing to maintain contact with Xeno or his father Theodore.
The grandmother raises Xeno with a keen sensibility around an unusual animal world. When they shared a bedroom in a small apartment, he recalls, “On countless nights, after tucking me in, my grandmother retired to her own bed and told me animal stories, punctuated by sound effects, out of the darkness. I heard about the one-winged stork that flew over the Alps and laid an egg from which an entire city was born; and the serpent that ate the moon and spat out a sky full of stars; and the black bear that fell asleep on a mountaintop and awoke a hundred years later in the same spot, now a tiny island in the sea, and turned himself into a whale.”
Xeno’s friends are few, and at his grandmother’s death his father enrolls him in a boys’ boarding school. History courses open his eyes to a world of writing about mythical beasts, including texts known as bestiaries. These compilations of animals, real and imagined, were not uncommon during the Middle Ages. One – the Caravan Bestiary – stands out from the rest. This compilation of animals lost in the great flood disappeared in the 13th century, and it is believed that if it is ever rediscovered, it will change the world.
Xeno graduates from high school in 1967. He takes his passion for seeking the Caravan Bestiary to Harvard, though more schooling is not in the cards. His father, who has remained physically and emotionally distant, provides good monetary support; Xeno drops out of school to pursue his passion but instead, finds himself drafted and sent to Vietnam.
“The Bestiary” is part detective tale and partly a story of coming of age. Its central characters are endearing, and several of those who have the greatest impact on Xeno’s life play recurring roles. It is good to see them again. One hates to lose touch with old friends.
But what makes “The Bestiary” so unforgettably delightful is the way that Christopher drops the unbelievable casually into place. Xeno remembers awaking from a childhood sleep, to see an animal perched outside his window. “Its wings, tail, and spiky crest were silhouetted against a yellow moon. I was frightened but also thrilled when I realized it was one of the two griffins that graced the parapet of the First National Bank, which I passed on my way to school. … I always looked up to see if they had moved (they never did). … At the bank the next morning the griffins were in their usual positions, stony wings enfolded, on opposite ends of the parapet. It seemed something was different – one griffin’s head was tilted left instead of right.”
Xeno never loses his belief that animals we think of as mythical once roamed the Earth. While his path is hardly straight, it is right.
It is left to the reader to decide whether he achieves his dream, but the one thing that seems fairly certain is that, despite the false starts, twists and turns, this is one kid who will end up all right.
Robin Vidimos reviews books for The Denver Post and Buzz in the ‘Burbs.
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FICTION
The Bestiary
Nicholas Christopher
$25
