An offbeat and satirical work of what might be considered literary fiction, "The Chronicles of a Cynic" is a loosely allegorical spin on Dante's "Purgatorio." This contemporary "bildungsroman" follows the unlikely path of the title character--a writer/educator named Dan Taylor-Gehry--across the country to teaching jobs, through loves gained and lost, against encounters with the seven deadly sins, amidst moderate success in writing and publishing, and ultimately downward through his darkest psychological recesses. The cynic's frenetic pace matches the transience of Kerouac's Sal Paradise, and the bombastic tone of his narration evokes visions of Ignatius Reilly waxing philosophical from behind a hot dog stand. With his cynicism rooted in his desire for cultural purity, Taylor-Gehry takes his idealism too far by resorting to ridiculous acts of violence against others and himself. During his incarceration, he is forced to prove his sanity by charting his life story, resulting in this darkly comic novel of ideas.