Tier 1: Literary Masterpieces
INCEL (2023) by ARX-Han
INCEL is a self-published novel by an anonymous writer, which may lead one to assume it is at best mid and more likely slop, but it is actually a modern literary masterpiece. Welcome to the state of literature in the 2020s: the absolute best stuff is being published independently. (Often not by choice but necessity.) I originally discovered ARX-Han through his Substack (Decentralized Fiction), in which he wrote about the process of independently publishing his book. Reading those posts, I could tell he was brilliant, which made me want to purchase and read his novel—which did not disappoint. In fact, it surpassed my already high expectations.
INCEL is an edgy book for sure, about a racist misogynist white male “incel”, but it doesn’t treat him as a caricature or unredemptive villain—which is why no mainstream publisher today would dare touch it. ARX-Han writes about incels in a way that is illuminating, educational, entertaining, humorous, and most of all, true. The book follows the narrator, who is unnamed and referred to as “Anon,” a graduate student studying evolutionary psychology while using his intellectual insights to try to lose his virginity. Anon is evidently on the spectrum, as his extremely detailed over-analysis of everything resembles an AI studying human behavior. He breaks down every social interaction through the lens of evo-psych, citing scientific papers and waxing philosophically about race, sex, and all the problematic things we’re not allowed to talk about. (Though the author does not condone Anon’s thoughts and actions.) Anon is also well-versed in internet culture and 4Chan memes. ARX-Han’s prose is top-notch, on the level of supreme maximalist wordsmiths like David Foster Wallace.
In a sane world this book would have been picked up by a mainstream publisher and the author proclaimed as the next Chuck Palahniuk or Bret Easton Ellis—the voice of a generation—someone who truly understands, empathizes with, and can explain the “incel” crisis facing young men worldwide. Instead the mainstream either ignores the incel problem or just chastises them, blaming incels for everything wrong with society. The New York Times publishes articles wondering why men don’t read fiction anymore… They would if you published books like this!
T.Z. Barry 