Arthur (Or, The Alcoholic, Coke-Snorting, Murderous Scumbag)

Arthur (Or, The Alcoholic, Coke-Snorting, Murderous Scumbag) deals with greed and death in a self-referential, humorous manner. The eponymous main character of the novella finds a bag containing several million pounds’ worth of cocaine sitting on his doorstep, with (apparently) no idea how it got there. He and his best friend Willard, along with Willard’s childhood friend Peregrine, proceed to sell the cocaine to Peregrine’s cousin, Bill, for more money than they know what to do with. However, Keyser Söze (or so she calls herself; this is evidently not her real name) appears, and murders all of them in cold blood. Written in non-linear, experimental style, the novella jumps back and forth from Söze’s diary entries of gory murder, to third-person observations of significant scenes, to first-person self-referential discourse with the reader. The novella contains a dictionary at the back, necessary for one particular section of the piece, and dips into various forms, including at one point a short play. In the end, though, everyone dies except Keyser Söze.