The Identity Club?!?!

A novel built around a group involved with "reconstituted personalities?"
OMG, as the youth oft exclaim. I (whoever that might be) cannot believe this.

Thanks Ed, I mean, Michael!

'Bourne' Again

So, before I get too far along into the continuing saga of Sir Spelvin-Hinchley-Sevrin-Taynor-Steenhammer-Kirby-Symonds-Judd-Henan-Brister-Dryden-Reynolds-Thane (am I forgetting any?), I wanted to comment on the absolutely out-of-control (in a good way) nature of TMMI. Now, I won't pretend to have followed all that happened (or didn't happened, or might have happened, or...), as that's just simply not possible --- at least not after one reading. And isn't Keeler's point (at least on some level) that we don't "get it?" Isn't the confounding unfollow-ability of it all half the fun (or fury, depending on your state of mind and tolerance of such strangulating serpentine constructions)? Quite often I felt (and feel) as if I have wandered deep into the forest only to have my compass shatter as I arrive into the deepest set regions. But here, unlike, say, Marceau (which, I made quite clear, frustrated me to no end --- to the point

where I felt "defeated"), there is a propulsiveness that compels one to keep moving, keep looking, as there's some hope that if we (I) do we'll find a few crumbs upon the ground or a lamp shimmering in the distance that just might lead us out (but into what?). And this is what Keeler does (mystifyingly) well: he keeps us held in his preposterous palm, even when some part (the rational?) knows that what is transpiring is absolutely ridiculous, overwrought, and downright inexplicable.

Again, some of Keeler's standard fixations rise to the fore: an obsession not just with "Orientalism," but with a strange kind of 'globalism.' I was struck by the level of nationalities (regardless of how inaccurate or borderline/blatantly insulting they might be) he brings into the mix of TMMI It is the "melting pot" bubbling up and boiling over into the wide and windy city streets of that London of the West, Chicago. This also seems to connect with his intense fixation with multiplicity (esp. regarding identity), as one never knows exactly who one is. For instance, our protagonist (mentioned with ample hyphenation above). In this way Keeler (intentionally or not) seems to be grappling with the slipperiness of identity --- the notion that the self is not a fixed, concrete thing. That it is as slippery and 'un-pin-downable' as the "case" at hand.

It reminds me of something that Sam Shephard once said about Bob Dylan:

"If a mystery is solved, the case is dropped. In this case, in the case of Dylan, the mystery is never solved, so the case keeps on. It keeps coming up again. Over and over the years. Who is this character anyway?"

File Under: Peculiar Textual Connection: On page 106 (of the Ramble House omnibus edition) I was struck by how the letter that "Dryden" writes to Guey Ming (see excerpt below) echoes Robert Ludlum's latter day amnesic spy (and his more famous cinematic equivalent), Jason Bourne, and his mission to reclaim his misplaced identity.

"Now, Ming, for God's sake, tell me for a certainty who I am. I have a suspicion now, all right; but you alone, Ming know. Tell me quick, man. These many years of amnesia haven't been a happy thing. Please Ming, please -- I beg of you to cable me back the few words that will put my mind to rest."

However, no sooner than we can utter "Aha," Keeler (over the closing pages and early passages of the follow-up) finds other ways to further complicate and upend the protagonist's (and our) search to discover who he truly is and what this is all really about.

Back into the breach.

The Players

The Mysterious Mr. I

The Lineup:

George Spelvin/Oliver Hinchley/Ronal Sevrin/Arthut Taynor/Wheatley Judd/Lloyd Henan/Charlie Brister/Harry Steenhammer/Phil Kirby/Peter Symonds/Jack Ernst/Harland Dryden/Ed Reynolds: The Narrator/Numismatist/Optometrist/San Quentin Escapee...

MacLeish MacPherson M.D.: Just That (for now)

The Brothers Dove: MacPherson's Across the Hall Neighbors/Dentists

Gildrick Sandringham: Deceased Escaped Millionaire Lunatic

Abner Goffman: Chairman of the Board of Trustess of the Sandringhma Estate

Rufus Sandringham: The Elder, Now-Deceased Sandringham

Howard Hendley: President of the First National Bank

The Six Trustees: Henry L. Oland, Daniel C. Rying, Oscar J. Anderson, L. Verrill Meyrenfield and John Ellington Smith

Sol Greenbaum: The Foxiest Old jew Who Ever Sold Second-Hand Medical Goods & Supplier of "The Skull"

Mr. Barney: One of Dr. MacPherson's Small Hour Patients

The Lone Red-Headed Clerk

The Tiny Old Chinese Woman

Miss Taynor: Okimo's Sleepy Receptionist

Sato Okimo: The Lawyer in Room 310, Bush Bourse (All-Nations Corner!)

Bill Howard: The 8 to 4 O'Clock Day Man of the All-Night-Chain Cigar Store

Mr. X: ?!?!?

George Shultz: Former Employer of Arthur Taynor

Alfred Bentley (aka: Five o'Clock Bentley): President of the Upper North Michigan Avenue Bank/Alleged Keeper of the "Judgment Note"

Dr. Gregg Purvis: The Famous Alienist

Patrick Groogan: The Plumber Dispatched to Birkdale Asylum Who Unwittingly Supplied Sandringham With the Hacksaw Necessary For Escape

Gustav Shrik: President of the Logan Square Bank

Nat Lish/Job Husley: An Old San Quentin Lifer

Rev. Ira Lish: Job's Departed Brother

Vera Paisley/Monda MacPherson: Doc MacPherson's Sister

Sheriff Gaines

Dan Jafferson

Sam Jafferson

T. Parker Yocum: The Jafferson's Cousin

Trell Parker

Rev. Eustace Gershley

Ensign Wynne Middley

Louis Steenhammer

Effie Hampton

Margaret Trumbull

Caspar Lucas: Author of Criminal Identification Through Stigmata in Wounds and Traumae

Guey Ming

Cowperized!

Just a quick note to let all of our prior readers of The Snarl Ledger (who might have become concerned by the resigned and displeased tenor of earlier postings), letting you know that we have nearly completed The Mysterious Mr. I, and, frankly, we wish it would not end. However, there is I, Chameleon to look forward to (a continuation of sorts, no?). Mr. I's global, yet intersection-set (all connected, all interwoven) gumbo of nyms (both pseudo and non), (back)stories told and untold, is a straight-up hoot (yes, a hoot!). We can't wait to see how this things ends...or will it?

Tunnel Vision

13 September, 1936; One Gilrick Sandringham tunnels his way out of Birkdale Insane Asylum --- and, in turn, this world? (Chicago, Illinois).

13 September, 1974 (4:27 pm): One Kyle D. Rafferty tunnels his way into this world at Bellevue Hospital (Niskayuna, New York)

Document XXX

So, as a result of my struggles with Marceau's form (is that it --- simply an issue of "form?"), I have decided to place it by the bedside (for now), leap forward in the Keeler-onology, and crack the spine of The Mysterious Mr. I. Rest assured, I have not completely thrown in the towel regarding the case of Marceau, but rather, I am moving forward in preparation for a later "look back."

In the meantime, as I venture forth, please feel free to respond to my earlier plea.

No comment too minor, no suggestion too small.

Mayday! Mayday!

Okay, I surrender!

I want to like this mystery (I really, really do), but I just can't seem to find the thread(s?), a way in. No matter how much I chip away (and I'm nearly finished) at old Marceau I just can't "hold on" to it. It all seems so...so....so turgid. What am I not getting? I don't want to admit that I am having an allergic reaction to this writer that I find so fascinating. But, the object itself is proving to be a rather obstinate creation.

Can anyone out there lend a hand to a poor, confused, but generous soul, who wants nothing more than to fall completely into Keeler's web? I'm on a slight "break" next week and hope to dedicate some time to further decoding, but I sure could use some guidance. It's a jungle in there. So,what should I be looking for? What am I missing? Is there something wrong with me?

Then again, perhaps this frustration is all part of HSK's plan --- his way of shedding dead weight, of throwing the unworthy off the trail (his trail). But I will not give up, I will not surrender (I thought I just said I was?)!

In closing, this novice/wannabe Keelerite welcomes (and appreciates) all comments and suggestions from you more seasoned/wizened scholars. Won't you please help?

Humbly (and enervatedly),

KDR

The Knews

An Admission (a revelation):

As a new initiate to the Keeler canon I may have not been entirely prepared for the uniqueness (or is it just plain old strangeness?) of the "dossier novels" (e.g. Marceau). Thus my recent frustrations (as vented in my most recent post).

In an effort to understand them, to recalibrate my system and expectations, I am turning to the Richard Polt's supremely thorough and unparalleled, Keeler News. I am turning to those that have come before me, those that have tread these very same mixed-up roads. Specifically, to issue No. 30 "The Marceau Books" (2000). Surely the astute and well-read contributors to this fine publication can shine a light on these strange works, surely they can clear the brush and show me the way! If not they, then who?

Onward!

(Scotland) Yard Work

I have been slowly whacking my way through the thickets of loquacity in The Marceau Case, but have found that its assemblage, its "techinque," if you will, makes the reading (or the enjoyment, at least) rather hard fought. Its sentences are as gnarled (and yes, snarled) as its plot! It lacks the overall propulsiveness of Thieves' Nights and Sing Sing Nights (a certain jaunty rhythm, a speeedy page-turner-ocity, that both texts shared). For all of SSN or TN elaborate and serpentine spinnings, I often felt comfortable in my own confusion, whereas with Marceau I often find myself in varying states of an almost amnesiacal frustration ("Where am I? How did I get here? Where am I going?"). The "who, what, where-ness" of it all (and at a rate of seemingly endless multiplicity) confounds.

Perhaps it is the short story-like form of the previous two books (e.g. three prisoner's each tell a tale) that prevented them from feeling completely enervating as Marceau feels to me now. As soon as one began to feel tiresome or drawn-out it would (usually abruptly) conclude and a new narrative would begin. The two earlier books anthology-like structure mask or contain Keeler's long-windedness, but here the sprawl leads to a more prolongued state of disorientation..or, as seems to be HSK's M.O., anything approaching narrative satisfaction. Although each "Document," each scrap of material seems to be leading somewhere, it lacks the drive or narrative force that we are so accustomed to. It often feels not unlike sifting through an evidence room or reminiscent of the scene in the ever-underrated Pee Wee's Big Adventure where Pee Wee assembles his fellow cohorts for a full evening of "exhibits" ("Exhibit Q: A scale model of the entire mall!") regarding his missing bicycle ("The Alamo...in the basement.").

This is not to say that I completely dislike the book. In fact, I continue to admire its (and his) rigorous commitment to what can be (and often is) a pretty alienating experience --- there is no sure-footedness, no compass clearly pointing the way. I also continue to feel excited by Keeler's energy, his thrill for pouring words onto the page, of weaving his complex plots into a frenzied state of obtuseness. It's infectious. But it can also be exhausting. This was a man who, despite having some kind of readership, seemed to be writing because he couldn't not. This is writing for the pure pleasure of it.

I can only hope that Isaac Anderson (writing a generally positive review in the March 29th, 1936 edition of The New York Times) was right when he wrote, "In this story [Marceau]...there is very good reason for the excess verbiage -- a reason which does not become apparent until we reach the final chapter."

With sickle in hand, I press on.

The Unusual Suspects

Fellow Keelerites:

Fear not dear reader (all one of you), the case has not gone cold. Rather, recent developments have interfered with our best efforts to properly decode the devilish Marceau case. But rest assured, we have resumed our investigation and expect to be fully up-and-running over the coming week or so. For now, we have opted to begin another dizzying directory, this time of the participants and potential perpetrators in the mystery surrounding Monsieur Marceau.

Here 'tis (deep breath):

Gilbert Whittimore: London Correspondent for the All America News Service

Gus Erks: General Manager of the All America News Service

Xenius Jones: The Man at Scotland Yard

Tommy Marsfield: That Stooge that Whittimore Kicks Around

Aleck Snide

Bill Cutterman: Proprietor of Cutterman Detective Agency

Andre Marceau: The Dead Guy

Theophile Marceau: The Dead Guy's Father/One Time Ownr of Marceau Perfumes, Ltd.

Olivier Edward Marceau: The Dead Guy's Nephew

George T. McNulty: The American Neighbor Whose Own Large Yard in Back of His Own House Was Separated from Marceau's Lawn By But a Low Strip of Hedge

Robert, Tad, and Betty McNulty: The Motherless Three Children of George McNulty

Ellen Watson: McNulty's English Servant

Piet Van 'T Veer: The Blind, Aged Hollander and Witness to the Crime

Inspector Claude Sheringham: Inspector of Scotland Yard

Ada Banbury: Andre Marceau's Cook

Mattie Tullivant: One of Marceau's Tow Housemaids

Tedro Grimes: Marceau's Butler

Adam Tweedle: The Old Man of All-Work from Little Ivington

Constable Mullins:

Fleming Bouchier: Assistant-Inspector of Scotland Yard (and on of its three footprint

experts)

Eustace Harwood: Bouchier's Assistant

Peter Glok: Foreman of the Cincinnati, Ohio Star-Graphic"Composing Room

Harry Sturtevant: Feature-Editor of the Cincinnati Star-Graphic

Dumpf Karnossen: Founder of the Cincinnati Star-Graphic and Grandfather of Voorne Karnossen

Voorne Karnossen: Present Owner of the Star-Graphic and From Whom All of Present-Day Cincinnati Society is Said to Have Sprung

Gondersby: A Retired British Sportsman

Jelkins: Gondersby's Man

Netley Kingston and Cyril Blackledge: Two Boys Said to Have Witnessed a Large Aged Infant on an Autogiro on the Edge of Lymewich

Una Meggs: Acquaintance of Grimes and Yet Another Witness

Doctor Maynard Balmerton: The Local Ivington Physician

Inspector Allan Jamison: The Typographical Expert of Scotland Yard

(temporarily suspended due to lack of stamina)

A Tiny Lead?

Where were you on the night of May 10th, 1935?  Eh? 

Good Christ, speak-up small fry!

A Curious Case

"The infant had, they said, a most wizened and old-looking face..."

Was it you Benjamin? Could it be? 

No! You're far too cold and lifeless a creation for the likes of HSK.

Short Round

"You discovered the bodies?"
"Yes, sir. Mrs. Pike, there, was with me."
"You found them both dead?"
"Yes, sir...Jimmy and I were pretty friendly at the theater. He was a nice little fellow and seemed grateful that I'd given him his job. We'd only needed one midget for a Oriental scene in the second act and the agencies had sent about fifteen. Mr. Gehring , the director, told me to pick one of them as he was busy and I picked Jimmy because he was the littlest."

- From Marc Connelly's "The Coronor's Inquest," (1930) which can be found in this.

"London, England, November 13, 1936: The baffling case of the murder of Andre Marceau, of England, by strangulation, committed apparently by an infant -- though in actuality beyond doubt by a grotesque dwarf or else midget, in infant's clothes -- let down from a hovering Knepp-Chandley autogiro and then whisked away again, is shortly to be completely solved, if the optimistic, and at the same time very positive, statement of Inspector Xenius Jones, youthful crime sleuth from the Bombay, India, police force, and recent addition to Scotland Yard, may be accepted."

- From HSK's The Marceau Case (1936), which can be found here.

It appears that midget murder was abound both inside and outside of the "vicious circle."

The Lost Screenplay?

Buckaroo Banzai, born to an American mother and a Japanese father, thus began life as he was destined to live it...going in several directions at once.  A brilliant neurosurgeon, this restless young man grew quickly dissatisfied with a life devoted solely to medicine.  He roamed the planet studying martial arts and particle physics, collecting around him a most eccentric group of friends, those hard-rocking scientists The Hong Kong Cavaliers.

And now, with his astounding jet car ready for a bold assault on the dimension barrier, Buckaroo Banzai faces the greatest challenge of his turbulent life...

...while high above Earth, an alien spacecraft keeps a nervous watch on Team Banzai's every move.

From: The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984)

For more information on the work of Dr. Banzai visit the Institute.

The Daily Watchdog

Courtesy of the esteemed Professor Park

Getting Knotted

"Is that you, Ward? It's me, Rosegail."

An Episode Concerning a Man Trapped Within a Story Within a Story Within a Story...(I Think)

To Whom:                                   

I am presently ensnared in a collection of stories set within a story which is itself set within yet another story (I think).  All of which is occurring somewhere between a painting and a plaster wall (I think). More details to follow if and when I emerge (I think).

Unsurely,

KDR

Current Mood: In the Weeds

Scraps at Midnight

The cover has closed on Sing Sing Nights (for now), but my time in Keelerville (that London of the West) has only just begun. I am now set to begin Keeler's next opus, Thieves' Nights and my palms sweat with anticipation.  

What did I make of Sing Sing Nights, you ask?  In a word: dizzying.  If this is one of Keeler's more "conventional" works (as has been reported), I can only imagine what lies ahead.  While the book may not be as "off the rails" as his later works, there is certainly a peculiar/unique voice and vision at work that seems undeniably Keeler-esque (at least from what I, a recent initiate, can tell).  

Some of the emergent obsessions in SSN:

• Use of truncated/rearranged words and letters, and an abundant use of initialized monikers. (Question to self: Might some of this connect to the Oulipo?  Answer to self: Check it out).

• Pseudonyms and doubles (and triples?!?!) (e.g. Gryce/Cawthorne, Annesly/Grillo).

• Subset of above: A fixation with the construct of identity.  Identities often transplanted, transformed,  or confused via names, wardrobes, or brain surgery (!)

• Scraps, documents, pieces - more than just clues to the mystery?  All a part of Keeler's meta/self-reflexive narrative constructions.  Is he showing us the clues to more than just the riddle at hand?  Is he using these devices parodically, or perhaps just calling attention to his "tangled" narrative methods?  (see also: the latter discussions between Krenwiscz, Eastwood, McCaigh).

• The Race Question (more on this later --- for now one word: Confucius)

• Keeler constantly comments on the convoluted quality of his narratives (e.g. tangled, snarled, etc).  See also: duh  What Keeler might refer to as "some semblance of winkability" (pg. 206, Ward Lock & Co.).

• Annesly/Grillo might function as a kind of Keeler surrogate --- a beastly and extreme outsider figure ("The outcast was to be taken in, to be made a peer of his fellows"). There's something deeply sad about Eastwood's narrative of love lost and sort of found.  I could be reading too much into it, but it felt shot through with a kind of lived sorrow/loneliness.

• n + (?!?!?)

Harry Stephen Mathews?

"After inventing incident 'n' between thread 'A' and thread 'B,' there must be invented immediately an incident of numerical order ' n + 1' involving thread 'A' with still another thread 'C'; then an incident 'n + 2' involving the same thread 'A' with one 'D'; then an incident 'n + 3' comprising an incident between thread 'A' and still a further thread 'E'; and this, to avoid an impasse, must be carried on as a rule to not less than an incident of order 'n + 4' or even 'n + 5'; and now mark well the essential desideratum of this preliminary invention. Here it is: Incident 'n' must produce incident 'n + 1'; 'n + 2' must be the result of 'n + 1'; 'n + 3' must be the result of 'n + 2'; and so on. This much correctly done, any writer - no matter who he be - will have a real set of threads with which to weave, as well as the nucleus - if we may use such a term - of the web itself."

From the Oulipo Companion:

N + 7 - A method invented by Jean Lescure that consists (in Queneau's terse definition) "in replacing each noun (N) with the seventh following it in a dictionary...When choosing a dictionary, it is useful to remember that the smaller it is, the greater the alphabetic distance between the original word and its replacement and the simpler the words found."

Say what?

Is this a mystery novel or a portable experimental writing workshop? While one seems vastly more convoluted than the other (you be the judge), each are inventive ways for narrative creation/construction. Could it be that HSK is a founding father of the Oulipo?

"The Strange Adventures of the Overlooked Oullipian." Hmmm.

"Stop!"

"A.S.!"

"Was that note really from Arthur Sennet, or could it have been a strange crossing of the wires?"

Confusion is Next

For the sake of clarity I am starting a running list of characters (in order of appearance/mention) from Sing Sing Nights. Currently, I am only three chapters in, but I can sense that the various names (and aliases) are only just beginning to crawl out of the proverbial woodwork...in droves! So:

McCaigh (aka "The Iron Man"): The American; author of The Riddle of the Onyx Hand, The Washington Square Enigma, and others. Teller of 'The Strange Adventure of the Giant Moth.'

Eastwood: The Englishman; teller of 'The Strange Adventure of the Missing Link.'

Krenwicz: The Russian; author of the play The Daughter of Chow Chin and teller of 'The Strange Adventure of the Twelve Coins of Confucius.'

Shanahan: The Death Watch Guard

Governor Willets: The Governor

Howard Creynell: The Victim

Parkins: "Creynell's Man"

"The Strange Adventure of the Giant Moth" (as told by McCaigh)

'Moonface' Eddy Chang

Cecil Gryce (aka: Wellington Cawthorne): The Big Man

Rufus Eldridge: The LaSalle Street Broker

Miss Shirley Eldridge: The Daughter

Jack Hennly: The Millionaire Polo Player

Nicco di Paoli: The Famous Violinist

Malcolm Eldridge: The Brother

Krellwitz: The Shifty-Eyed Shopkeeper

Wilk Casperson

Arthur Sennet

Brayley: The Butler

Mose: The Negro Footman

Sandy MacTavish: The Copper

'Professor' Aloysious Silvester: The Dead Body at 912 Ernst Court

Dolan: The Half-Clad Neighbour

Ushi Yatsura: The Jap

Wellington Cawthorne (aka: Cecil Gryce)

Sergeant O'Reilly: Another Copper

Vergitilla Phyleas: The Giant Tropical Moth

Mrs. Dolliver

Adolph Stutz: The Maker of Masquerade Suits

Professor Hans Schwenmauer: Tropical and Semi-Tropical Moths Expert

'The Strange Adventure of the Twelve Coins of Confucius' (as told by Krenwicz)

Jason H. Barton: The Reporter

Leon Frangenac (aka: Captain Napoleon Savegeau): Chicago Evening Dispatch City Editor ("that font of perpetual sarcasm")

Princess O Lyra Seng: The Daughter of the Chinese Emperor, Seng Hoang-Ti

Princess O Lyra Seng's Maid

Li Hwei Tsung (aka: Li Lung): The Prime Minister

Mrs. Li Hwei Tsung: His Wife

The Old Man in California: The Owner of the Dispatch

Howard Britton: Owner of the Sun

Sam Toy: The Murdered Chinese Laundryman

Mr. Charles Fawcett (aka: Jason H. Barton): The Former College Buddy, Now Washed-Up Reporter

Professor Chan Fu: The Exchange Professor from the University of Peking

Chu Li Yan: Keeper of the Twelve Coins of Confucius

Patrick Shanahan: Renting Agent of 144 West Huron St.

Carstairs: The Washington Correspondent

Speaker Farley: The Representative on Trial

Hoang-Ti: The Emperor

Mrs. O'Malley's Friend's (ahem) Chink Servant in Ravenswood

Senator Fealy (IL): Washington Flyer Accident Victim

Congressman Opp (IL): Another Washington Flyer Accident Victim

Congressman Rann (IL): Yet Another Washington Flyer Accident Victim

The Irish Cabby

The Clergyman

The Clergyman's Wife: The Witness

The Two Agents

'The Strange Adventure of the Missing Link' (as told by Eastwood)

Eustice Annesly/Grillo/Geofftey, Lord Geoffrey Olford: Electrical Engineer of the Lots Road Generating Station for the Underground Electric Railways/The Talking Ape/Earl of Olford

Sybil Mainwaring: Annesly's Lost Love/Olford's Wife

Lord Geoffrey Olford

Dr. Andrev Michaelovitch: The Surgeon

Boris Michaelovitch: The Surgeon's Son

Mr. Scarnum: The American Circus Owner

The Human Spider

The English Journalist

The Governor's Daughter: Creynell's M------

Also, is it just me or does an introductory synopsis of SSN sound like a half-hearted attempt at a bad joke?:

"Three guys walk into a cell. An American, an Englishman, and a Russian..."

Chapter I: Gentlemen Three

"A chamber it was which in its time had seen many a guest of high and low degree -- a chamber which for years in Sing Sing prison had housed on their last nights those unfortunates who, formerly swinging off into all-engulfing blackness a the end of a hempen rope, were now more scientifically and expeditiously dispatched from an intricately wired chair connected to a 2,200-volt transformer." - HSK, Sing Sing Nights

The separation begins.

Good night(s).