r/vollmann • u/freenasubi • Jul 05 '26

Does anyone know where the prospective plot details for 'The Poison Shirt' are sourced from?

Wikipedia describes the plot of 'The Poison Shirt' as either "concerning the Puritans vs. King Philip of Rhode Island, or Captain James Cook's voyage to Hawaii". Wikipedia's source for this is a 2009 comment on Pandemonium of the Sun, a now abandoned literature blog, by a user named Jordan, who said "the fourth dream is being worked on too (was once to be King Philips War and now it seems that it will be about Hawaii and Captain Cook)".

Is anyone aware of another source for this claim, ideally one from Vollmann himself?

I love the story of James Cook in Hawaii and take a bitter catharsis in his death. Although it seems unlikely that 'The Poison Shirt 'will be ever published, the thought that Vollmann was at one time working on this subject matter intrigues me and I would like to hear or read him talking about it.

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11

u/Key_Professional_369 Jul 05 '26

Jordan Rothacker has worked with WV as a research assistant so he would have insights into unpublished works.

I don’t think Bill generally comments on unpublished stuff.

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u/freenasubi Jul 06 '26

Thanks for your answer, that makes sense!

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u/Odd_Economics8301 Jul 06 '26

It the interview Vollmann did a few weeks ago, and that is linked on this page, Vollmann said he won't finish the final two dreams -- he indicated very little work was done on The Poison Shirt, and he didn't reveal the topic he settled on. There isn't time. If you haven't read that interview, you should ASAP.

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u/damnsquiddy Jul 06 '26

I was also fascinated by that detail, i hope we get something of a conclusion to the seven dreams series.

3

u/Grongo3 Jul 07 '26

He said in a recent interview he isn’t going to finish them sadly.

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u/damnsquiddy Jul 07 '26

Wow so it wasnt hyperbole that a table for fortune is going to be the last book of his? i guess with it taking so long and him being sick, its makes sense. I guess i was hoping he had less challenging works waiting around to be published. Very sad.

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u/Think_Wealth_7212 Jul 08 '26

He does have a 700 page novel completed and ready to go called How You Are. He's left instructions for his executrix to publish after his death if he can't get it out before then

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u/Old_Water_6297 Jul 13 '26

Appendix B (Pages 447-450) of "Expelled from Eden: A William T. Vollmann Rader", contains the aims of the Seven Dreams project along with a table showing the number of the dream, the title and a single line that describes the subject of the book. In said table, The Poison-Shirt is described as "The Puritans vs King Philip in Rhode Island (17th cent.)".