--- product_id: 59500704 title: "Pym" price: "¥8783" currency: JPY in_stock: true reviews_count: 5 url: https://www.desertcart.jp/products/59500704-pym store_origin: JP region: Japan --- # Pym **Price:** ¥8783 **Availability:** ✅ In Stock ## Quick Answers - **What is this?** Pym - **How much does it cost?** ¥8783 with free shipping - **Is it available?** Yes, in stock and ready to ship - **Where can I buy it?** [www.desertcart.jp](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/59500704-pym) ## Best For - Customers looking for quality international products ## Why This Product - Free international shipping included - Worldwide delivery with tracking - 15-day hassle-free returns ## Description Buy Pym by Johnson, Mat from desertcart's Fiction Books Store. Everyday low prices on a huge range of new releases and classic fiction. Review: Thanks to his uncle, I was introduced to author Mat Johnson and his new novel, Pym. Pym is part mystery, part satire, part sci-fi, and all entertaining--plus with a message. In fact, this is probably one of the funniest and most creative books that has been published in decades. English professor Chris Jaynes has just lost his college teaching position. Not only does he not want to teach Black Literature (which he was hired to teach) but he also refuses to join the school's Diversity Committee. As the only black faculty member, it's difficult to have a Diversity Committee without any diversity. Jaynes is obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe, and especially, Poe's only novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. This novel is not Poe's best work, but Jaynes is haunted by Arthur Pym's sudden and mysterious demise in Antarctica, as well as the island that he discovered, Tsalal. The inhabitants of Tsalal are so black that even their teeth are black. Jaynes purchases a manuscript written by Dirk Peters (a fictional character in Poe's novel) and now Jaynes realizes that Poe's novel is probably nonfiction. With a settlement from the college, Jaynes recruits a crew of other African Americans (led by his cousin, ship captain Booker Jaynes) to retrace the steps of Arthur Pym and also, to harvest South Pole ice into drinking water (one of the last sources of pure water). What Jaynes discovers on Antarctica is not just shocking, but may also lead him to the same demise as Arthur Pym. Booker Jaynes describes it as a "snow honky problem" but it is much worse than that. Although Pym is hysterically funny at times, Johnson makes us take a meaningful look at race. His satire and comedy hide a serious side to this story. "I like Poe, I like Melville, I like Hemingway, but what I like the most about the great literature created by the Americans of European descent is the Africanist presence within it. I like looking for myself in the whitest of pages. I like finding evidence of myself there, after being told my footprints did not exist on that sand. I think the work of the great white writers is important, but I think it's most important when it's negotiating me and my people, because I am as arrogant and selfish a reader as any other." In many respects, Johnson shows true genius. He ends Pym with a dated, diary mode--just a Poe ended his novel. One extra bonus for me as a reader is that Mat Johnson grew up in Philadelphia (as does his character, Chris Jaynes) and he refers back to Philadelphia from time to time. In fact, I was fortunate to be able to hear Johnson read Chapter 1 of Pym in Philadelphia three days ago and it was a most entertaining evening. Unfortunately for Philly, Johnson now makes his home Texas where he teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But I intend to seek out his earlier works and I will depend on his uncle to keep me abreast of any future writings. Review: Many people have been fascinated and frustrated with Poe's only novel "The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym." Several have tried to complete this enigmatic work, notably Jules Verne and best of all H P Lovecraft in his "Mountains of Madness." Now Mat Johnson takes a swing at it, but who would ever guess that his solution would be a modern day social satire along the lines of Kurt Vonnegut or Thomas Pynchon? Yet it works beautifully. PYM is part adventure story, part social commentary, part science fiction/fantasy, and mostly a hilarious comic romp. Along the way, Johnson takes a whack at everything from Little Debby snack foods to modern day materialism to the Apocalypse to brief essays on 19th century American literature to hallmark style master of light paintings. It should not work - having all this mixed together should make the novel fall apart at the seams, but Johnson's strong characters and plot development makes it work. In fact, Johnson's ability to throw together seemingly disjointed themes with a story that continuously spawns new surprises and plot twists nearly every chapter is perhaps its strongest suit. Therefore I will not go into detail about the plot. I give it four stars because I found some of the first part a little slow. Do not worry and hang in there - once the gang is off to Antarctica, things move fast and furious, and always with a razor sharp comic timing. ## Technical Specifications | Specification | Value | |---------------|-------| | Best Sellers Rank | 117,945 in Books ( See Top 100 in Books ) 499 in Science Fiction Alternate History 11,395 in Literary Fiction (Books) 14,224 in Contemporary Fiction (Books) | | Customer reviews | 3.9 3.9 out of 5 stars (355) | | Dimensions | 13.08 x 1.91 x 20.07 cm | | Edition | Illustrated | | ISBN-10 | 0812981766 | | ISBN-13 | 978-0812981766 | | Item weight | 295 g | | Language | English | | Print length | 384 pages | | Publication date | 4 Sept. 2012 | | Publisher | One World | ## Images ![Pym - Image 1](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/71Roel5mwRL.jpg) ## Customer Reviews ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by C***N on 7 March 2011* Thanks to his uncle, I was introduced to author Mat Johnson and his new novel, Pym. Pym is part mystery, part satire, part sci-fi, and all entertaining--plus with a message. In fact, this is probably one of the funniest and most creative books that has been published in decades. English professor Chris Jaynes has just lost his college teaching position. Not only does he not want to teach Black Literature (which he was hired to teach) but he also refuses to join the school's Diversity Committee. As the only black faculty member, it's difficult to have a Diversity Committee without any diversity. Jaynes is obsessed with Edgar Allan Poe, and especially, Poe's only novel: The Narrative of Arthur Gordon Pym of Nantucket. This novel is not Poe's best work, but Jaynes is haunted by Arthur Pym's sudden and mysterious demise in Antarctica, as well as the island that he discovered, Tsalal. The inhabitants of Tsalal are so black that even their teeth are black. Jaynes purchases a manuscript written by Dirk Peters (a fictional character in Poe's novel) and now Jaynes realizes that Poe's novel is probably nonfiction. With a settlement from the college, Jaynes recruits a crew of other African Americans (led by his cousin, ship captain Booker Jaynes) to retrace the steps of Arthur Pym and also, to harvest South Pole ice into drinking water (one of the last sources of pure water). What Jaynes discovers on Antarctica is not just shocking, but may also lead him to the same demise as Arthur Pym. Booker Jaynes describes it as a "snow honky problem" but it is much worse than that. Although Pym is hysterically funny at times, Johnson makes us take a meaningful look at race. His satire and comedy hide a serious side to this story. "I like Poe, I like Melville, I like Hemingway, but what I like the most about the great literature created by the Americans of European descent is the Africanist presence within it. I like looking for myself in the whitest of pages. I like finding evidence of myself there, after being told my footprints did not exist on that sand. I think the work of the great white writers is important, but I think it's most important when it's negotiating me and my people, because I am as arrogant and selfish a reader as any other." In many respects, Johnson shows true genius. He ends Pym with a dated, diary mode--just a Poe ended his novel. One extra bonus for me as a reader is that Mat Johnson grew up in Philadelphia (as does his character, Chris Jaynes) and he refers back to Philadelphia from time to time. In fact, I was fortunate to be able to hear Johnson read Chapter 1 of Pym in Philadelphia three days ago and it was a most entertaining evening. Unfortunately for Philly, Johnson now makes his home Texas where he teaches Creative Writing at the University of Houston. But I intend to seek out his earlier works and I will depend on his uncle to keep me abreast of any future writings. ### ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Review *by D***N on 28 May 2011* Many people have been fascinated and frustrated with Poe's only novel "The Narrative of A. Gordon Pym." Several have tried to complete this enigmatic work, notably Jules Verne and best of all H P Lovecraft in his "Mountains of Madness." Now Mat Johnson takes a swing at it, but who would ever guess that his solution would be a modern day social satire along the lines of Kurt Vonnegut or Thomas Pynchon? Yet it works beautifully. PYM is part adventure story, part social commentary, part science fiction/fantasy, and mostly a hilarious comic romp. Along the way, Johnson takes a whack at everything from Little Debby snack foods to modern day materialism to the Apocalypse to brief essays on 19th century American literature to hallmark style master of light paintings. It should not work - having all this mixed together should make the novel fall apart at the seams, but Johnson's strong characters and plot development makes it work. In fact, Johnson's ability to throw together seemingly disjointed themes with a story that continuously spawns new surprises and plot twists nearly every chapter is perhaps its strongest suit. Therefore I will not go into detail about the plot. I give it four stars because I found some of the first part a little slow. Do not worry and hang in there - once the gang is off to Antarctica, things move fast and furious, and always with a razor sharp comic timing. ### ⭐⭐⭐ Review *by H***P on 25 April 2015* Mat Johnson is a brilliant, thought-provoking author who creates wonderful works of art, but this fell a little bit short of expectation. The book is a telling in reverse (of sorts) of Edgar Allan Poe's only novel, "The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket". We follow Chris Jaynes in an exploration of the story of Pym, which has long thought to be fictional but Jaynes finds to be true. The novel is a satire and social criticism of America and the idea that we're living in a post-racial world, and while it achieves that goal, the narrative that it uses as a frame is a little rickety. There are a few places where the plot is moved forward by unconvincing means: the most glaring example is Garth eating all of the food that the group was going to trade for their lives. It was a jarring moment that 'broke the dream', so to speak, and pulled me out as a reader. A novel worth reading, but falls short of Johnson's other work. --- ## Why Shop on Desertcart? - 🛒 **Trusted by 1.3+ Million Shoppers** — Serving international shoppers since 2016 - 🌍 **Shop Globally** — Access 737+ million products across 21 categories - 💰 **No Hidden Fees** — All customs, duties, and taxes included in the price - 🔄 **15-Day Free Returns** — Hassle-free returns (30 days for PRO members) - 🔒 **Secure Payments** — Trusted payment options with buyer protection - ⭐ **TrustPilot Rated 4.5/5** — Based on 8,000+ happy customer reviews **Shop now:** [https://www.desertcart.jp/products/59500704-pym](https://www.desertcart.jp/products/59500704-pym) --- *Product available on Desertcart Japan* *Store origin: JP* *Last updated: 2026-05-06*