The Desert and the City

by Derek Bickerton

It is late in the 4th century AD and Zachary, a young Greek from Alexandria, has decided to become a hermit. Spurned in love, he ventures to the fringe of the desert to join a colony of Christians. At the colony, Zachary learns from a fascinating mix of individuals who help him take his first steps on the road to spiritual perfection. But an untimely return to Alexandria to join in an attack on a pagan temple pulls him off course, and he falls victim to anger, drunkenness and lechery. Agonized with remorse for his sins, Zachary sets out alone into the deepest desert to wager his very life against his hope of salvation. Volumes 2 and 3 of The Commandment Trilogy are forthcoming.

280 pages, Hardcover

First published August 12, 2009

About the author

Derek Bickerton was a linguist and Professor Emeritus at the University of Hawaii, Manoa. Based on his work in creole languages in Guyana and Hawaii, he proposed that the features of creole languages provide powerful insights into the development of language both by individuals and as a feature of the human species. He was the originator and main proponent of the language bioprogram hypothesis according to which the similarity of creoles is due to their being formed from a prior pidgin by children who all share a universal human innate grammar capacity.
Bickerton also wrote several novels. He was the father of contemporary artist Ashley Bickerton.

Reviews

[Joseph Carrabis · Rating 1 out of 5]

The Desert and the City was a major disappointment to me and only because I thoroughly and unreservedly enjoy Bickerton's science and popsci books. In language, he is a genius and gifted teacher. I was stunned to learn he wrote fiction and, based on the power and honesty of his non-fiction writing, immediately ordered the first book of his trilogy.
Someone was watching out for me, obviously.
The Desert and the City continues Bickerton's non-fiction voice. Which is a big mistake for a fiction novel.
Big mistake.
Bickerton's scholarship of his subject matter is, as always, astounding. His execution of that scholarship is, unlike anything else I've read of his, mind-numbingly poor.
Bummer.