This week’s special feature
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Surviving the Pseudocene
We emerged from the Pleistocene Epoch, trudged through the Holocene, tore through the Anthropocene, and entered into the Pseudocene, and nobody thought to tell you. That’s why I built this website, Otis Bulfinch’s Ozarks Tales, so we could talk about it.
I know what you’re thinking: I’ve blended geologic ages with human ages, but that is a naive objection on your part. Nowadays, humans create the weather or at least we believe we do, so it pretty much amounts to the same thing. Indeed, the Pseudocene Epoch is characterized by the dismaying effect of increasingly realistic illusions, proliferating images—both AI and propagandistic—and good old fashioned lies on the pursuit of the “truth.” The word “truth” can no longer be written or spoken without air quotes, which affirms the advent of the Pseudocene.
The Otis Bulfinch Project is an attempt to integrate these realities into a Unity with the explicit intention of subordinating mechanical “creativity” to human ingenuity, especially with regard to stories, so that we somehow survive the Pseudocene to enter a New Age of faith, hope, and folktales.
Therefore, be it known that none of the creative writing on this website was authored by artificial intelligence, though Claude and Claude Code were instrumental in building the site, and ChatGPT, Midjourney, and OpenArt.ai generated many of the images that illustrate the various tales. Claude also performed much of the historical research that supports the Purple Knight Chronicles, which are themselves an extended meditation on artificial intelligence, illusions, propaganda, and exploitation. The Purple Knight is a Pseudocene hero.
There’s even a game you can play to explore the spiritual topography of the Pseudocene.
Of course, I could be lying to you. But then again so could everyone else in your life. Your spouse might be unfaithful. Your preacher might be stealing from the collection plate. Your boss might be about to fire you. Your best friend might really think you’re a jerk-face idiot.
Besides, your TV lies to you every night. Fox News and CNN. The Wall Street Journal and the New York Times. Every damn show you’re watching is a lie. When that tsunami of bullshit knocks you off the pier, what does it matter if it’s humans who created the wave or a vast network of interconnected servers? Either way, you’re still awash in bullshit.
So, welcome to the Pseudocene Epoch! And welcome to the Ozarks, the last, best refuge for storytelling in the world because Ozarkers have always known a good story bears with it the tell-tale whiff of the wave that even now looms above us.
"Come here," she said to William, almost as if she were calling a dog. "Closer." He stepped so close to her he could feel her breath on his lips. "Touch the back of my neck," she said. William slipped his fingers under her hair. "Now touch my cheek." He stroked her cheek as gently as he killed her husband.
Read More About the Book"A rollicking novel that fuses the Ozarks folk tradition with meditations on beauty, suffering, and the meaning of it all."
Get Your Copy of Pursuing Daisy Garfield:
Published by Publerati, an independent publisher that donates books to developing countries.
With accompanying links, photos, and articles
Enter the Purple Knight Chronicles
A serialized novel blending fact and fiction, with historical documentation
In 1897, a young Ozark newspaperman claimed a Little Rock plantation owner promised him $5,000 and his daughter's hand if he circumnavigated the globe dressed as the Purple Knight of the Ozarks. The quest was a lie. The girl never existed. But T. Allen McQuary's journey—traceable through newspaper archives from Missouri to Charleston to Oregon—was bizarrely real.
Follow the trail through actual newspaper clippings, court records, and a surviving promotional pamphlet. Watch as McQuary transforms from con artist to postmaster to embezzler, spinning increasingly grandiose tales in churches, schools, and Masonic halls across America until his tragic end in 1948.
Illustrated portrait of T. Allen McQuary
St. Louis Globe-Democrat, Sun., June 13, 1897, p. 40.
Click the Purple Knight to Begin Your Own Journey
Wherein Otis Bulfinch remembers that oracles tell the truth, but they tell it sideways, because in the end, interpretations are never straight-forward, and let’s face it, interpretation is everything.
Explore Authentic Ozark & American Folktales
Discover genuine folktales and folklore research from the Library of Congress, early academic journals, and other public domain sources. These archives preserve the authentic voices and stories that have shaped American folk tradition for generations.
Over 4,000 songs and stories collected by folklorist Mary Celestia Parler throughout the Arkansas Ozarks, including ballads, tales, and oral histories.
Browse CollectionEarly scholarly collection of American folk narratives, customs, and beliefs. These foundational volumes document oral traditions from across the United States before modernization changed rural communities.
Read OnlineThe Max Hunter Collection featuring over 1,600 Ozark folk songs and stories from Missouri and Arkansas. Hear authentic voices telling the tales that inspired generations of storytellers.
Listen NowMultiple volumes of authentic Ozark folktales collected by the master folklorist, including 'Who Blowed Up the Church House?' and other classics.
Including: 'Who Blowed Up the Church House?', 'We Always Lie to Strangers', 'Ozark Magic and Folklore', and more
Read Full TextFirst-person accounts from formerly enslaved people in the Ozarks region, including folk stories, traditions, and cultural memories collected by the Federal Writers' Project.
Explore ArchiveMary Celestia Parler's extensive collection of Ozark folk songs, ballads, and oral histories. One of the most comprehensive collections of Southern mountain folklore ever assembled.
Access ArchiveThese are sites run by folks who are doing the Lord’s work when it comes to preserving what is remarkable about the Ozarks. I recommend them without reservation. See all recommended links →
Josh Heston’s indispensable documentary resource on Ozarks history and culture.
Visit SiteKaitlyn McConnell’s beautifully curated exploration of Ozarks people, places, and traditions.
Visit SiteYour place for all things Ozarkian: the profane, the profound, the preposterous, and the impressive.
Visit Site
The Possum Apocalypse: Saving the World, One Heresy at a Time.
A Novel by Otis Bulfinch
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