The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (Volume 1): Part I

by M.T. Anderson
Octavian Nothing is an African youth held captive by a group of Enlightenment scientists and philosophers in eighteenth-century Boston. This National Book Award-winning novel explores racism, freedom, and individual identity.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Part I, Part II, Part III, Part IV

Here are links to our lists for other works by M.T. Anderson: The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation (Volume 2), Feed.
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. parlance
    a manner of speaking natural to a language's native speakers
    In the parlance of that house, the master, Mr. Gitney, was called 03-01 because he was the head (and so 01) of the third family enumerated (that is, the Gitneys).
    The definition includes the adjectives "natural" and "native" but the example sentence emphasizes that the parlance of "that house" was uniquely created and taught to its inhabitants and requires parenthetical explanations to outsiders. Although the intention of Mr. Gitney was to "rationalize human relations" the numerical system reinforces hierarchy and discourages personal connections.
  2. transcribe
    write out, as from speech or notes
    So I sat on his lap and told him what he wished to know; and carefully, nodding, he transcribed my answers for study, comment, and future publication.
  3. virtuoso
    someone who is dazzlingly skilled in any field
    All of those virtuosos still unwed, however, young or old, wished to be seated next to my mother in Mr. 03-01’s carriage, and it took some time, us standing in the stable-yard while they each put in their bid, before we could even embark.
  4. recondite
    difficult to understand
    The floating lights and miraculous gasses of our house did not intrigue me, being so familiar; but the trains of servants running through the streets with baskets of leeks, or the poles strung with dead hares, the ladies in their finery walking arm-in-arm — these filled my mind with questions, as if they were the most recondite of earthly tableaux.
  5. soporific
    inducing sleep
    There is no refreshment more gratifying to the soul than the sight of Nature in her summer finery, before the heat is at its most intense. She is soothing, but not soporific; intoxicating without inebriation.
  6. precarious
    not secure; beset with difficulties
    But when we rose from four feet to two, we became precarious. Now we hold ourselves away from Nature. Bipedal, we teeter always on the brink of collapse, and worry about balance.
  7. pernicious
    exceedingly harmful
    Though in the normal course of events such a request would have been refused due to the pernicious night airs, 03-01 was feeling indulgent after our idyll, and gave me license to sit there and watch the moon come out above the steeples of the city.
  8. acclimate
    get used to a certain environment
    By such lessons did I become acclimated to scientific calculation in even the meanest function, so learning the secrets of tare and gross.
  9. acuity
    a quick and penetrating intelligence
    Mr. Gitney — that is, 03-01 — reading of her arrival in the papers, went to the dock to greet her, and being impressed with her bearing and mental acuity, offered her a place in his home.
  10. encumbered
    loaded to excess or impeded by a heavy load
    “When I was a boy,” said he, “this was my punishment. Standing with Milton weighing upon one hand and Shakespeare the other. But you... you shall be encumbered with your own past, hm?”
  11. prodigious
    very impressive; far beyond what is usual
    His knowledge was prodigious; his mastery of philosophic depths was total, though his notions were somewhat eccentric.
  12. importune
    beg persistently and urgently
    As he listened to her Africk monodies, though, their unaccountable rhythms, their outbursts and their alien allusions, he grew passionate about them, and would often importune her to sing them again; which she did not, after she reached the age of sixteen or seventeen.
  13. sumptuous
    rich and superior in quality
    When I review this epoch, however it may seem to others, to me it appears a period of singular bounty; for having seen what I since have seen, I recognize how merciful Providence was in supplying me with luxuries: the sumptuous foods upon the table, the glory of music, the gift of literacy, the opportunities to survey the advancement of learning.
  14. amity
    a state of friendship and cordiality
    My boy — we are a tiny race...involved in a vast pursuit...amidst the cold stars...and all bound together by reason and amity.
  15. languish
    experience prolonged suffering in an unpleasant situation or place
    A woman of your accomplishments should not languish here in the Colonies.
Created on Wed Oct 23 11:54:26 EDT 2013 (updated Tue Aug 05 11:44:17 EDT 2025)

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