Fiction: ‘Major Arcana’ by John Pistelli

The serial novel has not had a significant role in American publishing for nearly a century, but lately there have been stirrings of a revival. Creative artists, along with journalists and pundits, have begun to migrate to subscription-based media platforms, most notably Substack. One writer testing the possibilities of the movement is John Pistelli, a literature instructor and critic who, beginning in 2023, serialized his novel “Major Arcana” on his Substack, “Grand Hotel Abyss.” The book attracted the attention of the small press Belt Publishing, which has released it in a more traditional format.