SOURCE: “The Obscene Bird of Night as a Spiritual Exercise.” The Review of Contemporary Fiction 12, no. 2 (summer 1992): 50-55.

In the following essay, Rojo discusses the survival of the individual in the seemingly hopeless world of The Obscene Bird of Night.

From time to time, in accordance with the prescription of the majority of the world's religions, all believers must perform a ritual of self-annihilation. This has to do, of course, with the enactment of death. Accordingly, practices such as fasting, sexual abstinence, physical penitence, silence, worldly withdrawal, and meditation often play a role. In general, these practices not only limit to a greater or lesser degree the natural appetites of the body, but also affect the social activities of the individual in everything from work to recreation. For a period of time the believer is supposed to remain in a state of limbo in which he negotiates with...