The Purple Knight of the Ozarks
The Nearly True Story of T. Allen McQuary
A Serialized Novel with Historical Documentation
T. Allen McQuary, circa 1897
This serialized novel follows McQuary's actual path through court records, newspaper clippings, and a surviving promotional pamphlet. Each chapter is accompanied by historical documentation, photographs, and newspaper articles that reveal the thin line between McQuary's fiction and his reality. This is the story of America's most persistent and creative liar—a man who turned deception into performance art and performance art into a way of life.
Table of Contents
Part One: The Quest Begins
- Prelude: A Rainy Night in Darkest Indiana (Free)
- First Interlude: From the Desk of T. Allen McQuary (Free)
- Chapter One: A Bright Young Man in a Dull Small Town (Free)
- Chapter Two: A Nearly Painless Digression on Journalism in the late 1800s (Free)
- Chapter Three: Ka-whang! (Free)
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Chapter Four: Mack's Triumph Among the Presbyterians
(Free)
The Purple Knight takes Cincinnati by storm
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Second Interlude: Notes from the Desk of a Real Scatterbrain
(Free)
Further discoveries from the archives, including McQuary's own promotional materials and newspaper accounts
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Chapter Five: Our Hero Travels to Springfield
(Free)
Go east, young man!
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Chapter Six: The Offices of the Springfield Leader
(Free)
Mack seeks answers in the city and encounters an angry editor
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Chapter Seven: At the Admiral Bimbo Inn
(Free)
Mack and M.S. Glenn get acquainted
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Chapter Eight: The Zoo Park Send Off
(Free)
Wherein Otis Bulfinch vows his revenge
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Third Interlude: Rough Draft Notes
(Free)
McQuary's own account of life on the road, selling booklets and charming girls
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Chapters 9-50: Subscribe for Full Access
Continue following McQuary's journey through Charleston, the Carolinas, and beyond with weekly chapters and exclusive historical documentation.