The Empire Still Hasn't Ended
One of the first whispered pejoratives that I learned upon entering my MFA program was the stigma of (again, kind of whisper it) "Oooh... she (or he)'s self-published..." I think for most literate folk, this bias exists already, but it was funny, that day in early Autumn, 2007, to hear the label of "self-published" used in actually deprecatory reference to an actual person. And it generally stands as such; self-published? You must suck (with the usual sideways glance to whatever amount of Walt Whitman's work was self-published).
It remains to be seen whether the internet and publishing-on-demand will overthrow the notion of self-publication (I tend to think that editors are a good thing, and that the kind of pseudo-free market of internet shops (especially those that generate the notoriously biased "recommendations" that steadily reinforce themselves and guide shoppers to fewer and fewer products within sites that claim to offer "just about everything") is a bad thing.) but my general stance could probably be caricatured as "most people suck at everything" so who knows...
That being said, it was recently announced that Philip K. Dick's wife, Tessa, is publishing a novel she has written based on PKD's last idea for a novel. According to the news brief there-linked, there are references in the story to Dante's Inferno and the Faust legend, which seems standard enough fair (I'm avoiding being a jerk and not going to make fun of that more). One presumes that there will also be gnostic religious references and crab-handed aliens. As interesting as this news might be to a half-assed PKD aficinado like myself, not to mention all the full-bore Dickthusiasts, that enthusiasm is pretty well deflated by the fact that Ms. Dick couldn't find a publisher for her book, especially given the cultural cache that Dick maintains (if you're not familiar with his writing, you've almost certainly seen at least one sci-fi movie based on a story of his (i.e. Blade Runner, Total Recall, Paycheck, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, etc.)).
I suppose, though, that until Dick's "Exegesis" is revealed in full to the reading world, in all of its undoubtably zany glory, nothing will really be that interesting or important.
It remains to be seen whether the internet and publishing-on-demand will overthrow the notion of self-publication (I tend to think that editors are a good thing, and that the kind of pseudo-free market of internet shops (especially those that generate the notoriously biased "recommendations" that steadily reinforce themselves and guide shoppers to fewer and fewer products within sites that claim to offer "just about everything") is a bad thing.) but my general stance could probably be caricatured as "most people suck at everything" so who knows...
That being said, it was recently announced that Philip K. Dick's wife, Tessa, is publishing a novel she has written based on PKD's last idea for a novel. According to the news brief there-linked, there are references in the story to Dante's Inferno and the Faust legend, which seems standard enough fair (I'm avoiding being a jerk and not going to make fun of that more). One presumes that there will also be gnostic religious references and crab-handed aliens. As interesting as this news might be to a half-assed PKD aficinado like myself, not to mention all the full-bore Dickthusiasts, that enthusiasm is pretty well deflated by the fact that Ms. Dick couldn't find a publisher for her book, especially given the cultural cache that Dick maintains (if you're not familiar with his writing, you've almost certainly seen at least one sci-fi movie based on a story of his (i.e. Blade Runner, Total Recall, Paycheck, Minority Report, A Scanner Darkly, etc.)).
I suppose, though, that until Dick's "Exegesis" is revealed in full to the reading world, in all of its undoubtably zany glory, nothing will really be that interesting or important.
7 Comments:
"Full-bore Dickthusiasts" is an excellent turn of phrase.
I also tend to think that editors are a good thing.
I'm thinking about the self-publication issue in contrast to the music world, where, at least in certain circles, "self-publishing" is considered a badge of honor, if not required - even in this post-post-punk era. Perhaps self-released music doesn't bear the same stigma because for a long time it was the only way to release music that didn't fit into a radio station's hourly playlist (whereas, at least from my perspective, publishing houses have long been printing material that's pretty much all over the place in terms of form and substance, leaving self-publishing the domain of slash-fiction writers)? Or could it be that music, as a performance medium, has a more built-in quality filter than writing? That is, as a bad writer, the only crowd heckling you is the editor who is taken out of the loop by the self-publisher.
thanx, Pete -- as they say in Hollywood, "just spell my name right"
you can read the first chapter for free at Book Habit, and then make your own decision
~~ Tessa
~~~
The comparison to independent music publication is there, but I think the main difference is this: based on my experience as an indie-rocker and a musician in a couple of DIY bands in Pittsburgh, the general language that surrounds the small labels that were putting out locals bands was one of community more than anything. For most of us, the corporate music industry had entirely sucked the soul (incidentally, the only time I tend to find "soul" to be a useful concept is in describing what corporations destroy when they co-opt previously good things) out of what music might mean, mostly by homogenizing formerly local musics into nationally distributable lowest common denominator schlock. So in a way, independent rock music was more like jazz--the albums were just documents that attempted to capture the energy and community of the live show. Only bands that played shows could make the money to self-release an album, so this was the main "editorial" filter.
There are many arguments, especially since the literary theory boom of the '60s and '70s, about how "performative" any given text is; to my mind the main thing that distinguishes a written performance versus a musical one is that a text must be written before hand, whereas, even if it is fully composed before performance, a piece of music happens in real time. Which is to say, a band can set up and play, and people can either dig the music and encourage them or heckle or just walk away--this happens before the commodity/artifact of the recording, which is the equivalent here of a book is produced. A book must be produced first before it can find an audience. The first audience then, is a small one, typically agents or editors or publishers, who will then either choose to distribute said text or not. In order to cut out that level of mediation, there has to be a way to evoke the sense of community that other grassroots artists publish within. And, as I say in my original post, it's hard to say whether or not the internet can or will provide sufficient community for such enterprises.
Incidentally, I'm flattered that you commented on our blog, Tessa, I'll read the chapter and post more about it.
thanx again, Pete
-- perhaps I was too abrupt, but there is so much buzz that I have little time to write or post
-- the thing is, this novel began when some of Phil's readers begged me to write it
-- they were posting on a science fiction message board that I happened to come across
-- so, in a sense, the Owl is the result of a community effort
-- I was so busy writing other things that I didn't think that I had time for the Owl, but I found the time because I wanted to make those readers happy
-- Ihope that you enjoy the first chapter
~~ Tessa
~~~
The link to the first chapter that Tessa mentioned is (I think) here.
I'm going to bump my further comments back out into a new post, rather than continue this comment thread, as I have the sense that I might ramble a bit...
Post a Comment
<< Home