Inside the Whale is an epic novel that, in the spirit of Beowulf, imagines a bardic drone chanting the mnemonics of rhythm and rhyme to entertain, lyre in hand, a group of ruffians gathered around a keg of beer and the red-hot coals of a dying fire. It tells the timely and timeless story of a self-destructive artist and the tragic consequences he incurs when he sins against his talent. Come, gather round, and listen.