From 'A Work in Progress'
The first advance excerpt from Ancient Evenings, in the Paris Review (winter 1982): a passage on the Egyptian embalming process, prefaced by an Author's Note on the seven parts of the soul, drawn from chapter 5 of Book I, 'The Book of One Man Dead.'
“From ‘A Work in Progress,’” the first advance excerpt from Ancient Evenings (83.18), in the Paris Review (no. 86, winter 1982). The selection — a description of the embalming process, from the point of view of the embalmee — is prefaced by an “Author’s Note” explaining the seven parts of the soul as delineated by the ancient Egyptians, knowledge necessary to follow the passage. A note claims it is taken from the installment forthcoming in Playboy, though the selection does not in fact appear in either Playboy excerpt (83.17, 83.28); it is drawn from chapter 5 of Book I, “The Book of One Man Dead.” It appeared several months before the novel.