''Letters from Hanusse'' is a book written by American author

Douglas Messerli Douglas Messerli (born May 30, 1947) is an American writer, professor, and publisher based in Los Angeles, California. In 1976, he started ''Sun & Moon'', a magazine of art and literature, which became Sun & Moon press, and later Green Integer ...

under the

pseudonym A pseudonym (; ) or alias () is a fictitious name that a person assumes for a particular purpose, which differs from their original or true meaning ( orthonym). This also differs from a new name that entirely or legally replaces an individual's o ...

Joshua Haigh, published by Messerli's

Green Integer Green Integer is an American publishing house of pocket-sized belles-lettres books, based in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1997 by Douglas Messerli, whose former publishing house was Sun & Moon, and it is edited by Per Bregne. Gre ...

in 2000. It is the third of a three-volume work that combines poetry, fiction, and performance called ''The Structure of Destruction'', an "exploration of evil in the 20th century." In a Preface, Messerli as publisher states that he was sent the manuscript without a return address and with the cryptic comment, "I will no longer be living by the time you hold this package in your hands."

Plot

The book is written as letters penned by Joshua Haigh to his wife Hannah from the imaginary island Hanusse, an Aegean state with famously loose morals. Joshua and Hannah had previously lived in a

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

commune that centered around the messianic Leon, who encourages

free love Free love is a social movement that accepts all forms of love. The movement's initial goal was to separate the State (polity), state from sexual and romantic matters such as marriage, birth control, and adultery. It stated that such issues we ...

. There Joshua discovers his own interest in

gay sex Sexual activities involving men who have sex with men (MSM), regardless of their sexual orientation, can include anal sex, non-penetrative sex, and oral sex. Evidence shows that sex between men is significantly underreported in surveys. Beha ...

. Eventually, Hannah and Elizabeth, Leon's wife, give birth to Ford and Minnie. Leon fakes the murder of Hannah and Elizabeth, while in actuality fleeing with the women and their children to

Paris Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...

, where he plans to sell the infants to some rich pedophiles. Joshua, momentarily tricked by the fake murders, soon follows them and succeeds in getting the Parisian police to interrupt the sale and hand the children over to him. But Joshua's motives are suspect: far from saving the children from pedophilia, Joshua moves them to Hanusse and becomes the boy's lover.

References

2000 American novels Black comedy books Metafictional novels Postmodern novels American LGBTQ novels 2000 LGBTQ-related literary works {{postmodern-novel-stub