Variations on a Theme Park

Imagine, if you will, that the small city of Terre Haute, Indiana, is home to a massive Dante-inspired theme park. The communities that surround the place are beyond depressing: closed storefronts, dilapidated houses, entire districts ravished by the opioid epidemic. But the structure itself is impressive, built from two retrofitted sports arenas connected by an underground tunnel. Visitors begin their journey in the Inferno, which is all ice and fire and headless demons that sell candy and hot dogs, as a roller coaster whizzes overhead. Once through the tunnel, they hear trumpets and French horns sound and marvel over “glowing constellations and laser lights” that fill the concourse. Welcome to Paradise.

The creation of this fictional park is the narrative backbone of Randy Boyagoda’s Dante’s Indiana, the sequel to his Original Prin and the second title in a planned trilogy. A satirical romp through contemporary America, the novel takes on the...