10 February 2007

Adolf Eichmann Afterburn

I really didn't know what Bobbi Ann Mason would make of my "Adolf Eichmann Superstar." Even in the super-raw, unfinished-ness of the draft she saw, I knew it'd be radically different from what she normally reads and writes, so the looks I caught her making--not unpleasant looks, I'll say, just kind of grasping--didn't surprise me too greatly. Nazidom ain't pleasant.
And maybe the level of subject unpleasantness is what swerved Bobbie Ann from talking much about the story elements, which I hoped she'd focused on.
Still, I'm glad she drew my attention to the thin character developments, which I knew would come up, more or less. And the temporal issues, the time-confusion, I guess it does gun to confuse the reader. I've already begun de-complicating this, although I've done the rapid head-math, and it adds up.
And the title? A riff, a pun on Jesus Christ Superstar? I've got to keep it. There's already a fictional piece called "Strange Attractors," for one thing. For another, I'm a futurist, and I believe the current title a futurist pun. Alfred Hitchcock--no, not a writer, but a storyteller, a narrative artist nonetheless--said "a pun is the highest form of literature." I see this as a very futurist statement. Puns comprise literary futures. Seen YouTube lately, a pun-loaded site, among many others, where narrative structures are being rapidly re-written. Everything's up for grabs, it seems!
See, I even ran a pun on my title in the subject line!
Uh-oh--time to kill this potential rant.
Anyway, and nevertheless, I'm glad Bobbi Ann Mason critiqued my piece. I think she did me much more good in crucial areas than someone who's already familiar with my subject matter and techniques.

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