Hi folks,
Got a couple more blurbs for THE
RAPIST to share with you and get this buzz thingy going. And, following these
are more writer’s quotes.
Here’s the first, from bestselling
mystery author, W.S. Gager.
When Les Edgerton asked me to
read an ARC of “The Rapist” he warned me with that title it may not be my thing
and he was okay with whatever I decided. I knew of his writing books like Hooked: Write Fiction That Grabs Readers at Page One
& Never Lets Them Go and Finding Your Voice: How to Put Personality in Your
Writing but never had looked at any of his fiction. I
was prepared for something graphic but he refused to talk about the plot or
storyline. No hints.
I was ready to be offended. I’m a
strong advocate for women’s equality and won’t tolerate or put my name near anything
that belittles woman. With a title of “The Rapist” it had two and a half
strikes before I read the first line because rape is all about a man having
power over a woman.
From the first pages the words
and voice made me think of American literature masters like Mark Twain and
Edgar Allan Poe I was forced to read in high school. The difference was in
school I still muttered about reading dead masters and times, but grew to love
the descriptions, plots and characters that transported me to another moment in
history. In “The Rapist” I read greedily to see where the book was going,
totally engrossed in the story. The honesty and freshness of the words from the
main character kept me glued to the page to see what happened to the man caught
in the worst circumstances and an act of degradation to woman. That is about
all I want to say about the plot. I understand Les’s reasons for not explaining
the details. You need fresh eyes to appreciate it but that isn’t to say I won’t
go back and reread it like other writing masters savoring it. It is one of
those books that each time you read it, you find another kernel of truth, a
pearl of wisdom. It has that many facets wrapped in rich layers of dialogue,
characterization and setting that pounded with each of the rapist’s heartbeat.
I was hooked from the first page.
Wendy
Gager, author of A Case of Infatuation, A
Case of Accidental Intersection, and
A Case of Hometown Blues.
And
one from Richard Godwin, who, incidentally gave me the single most exhausting
and
thought-provoking
interview I’ve ever been through…
‘I live in a small, dark realm which I fill out’.
Jean Genet’s words in “Miracle Of the Rose”. And like Genet, Edgerton
writes with lyricism and a sense of history of things that disturb, balancing
through his superb style themes that may otherwise unsettle the narrative. Edgerton’s brilliant archaeological dig into the motivations
of a rapist is an unflinching look at the darker recesses of the human psyche.
There is nothing gratuitous here and it takes a command to achieve a narrative
pull in such territory. It reminded me of John Burnside’s “The Locust Room” but
it’s better written. Edgerton voices the demonic forces
at work within his narrator’s head. He embeds the story with the protagonist’s
need for redemption set against the backdrop of his life. "The
Rapist" is confessional, poetic, unrelenting, and as real as the newspaper
lying before you. It challenges the assumption that fictions need to censor the
things people read every day in what is deemed factual. It is told in a style
that situates it among the classics of transgressive fictions. Richard Godwin, Apostle Rising, Mr Glamour
And now some writer’s quotes:
First, writers on Hollywood. All of these are from
Writers On Writing, compiled by Jon Winokur.
“I went out there for a thousand a week, and I
worked Monday and I got fired Wednesday. The guy that hired me was out of town
Tuesday.” Nelson Algren
“A dreary industrial town controlled by hoodlums of
enormous wealth, the ethical sense of a pack of jackals, and taste so degraded
that it befouled everything it touched.” S.J. Perlman
“I’m a Hollywood writer, so I put on a sports jacket
and take off my brain.” Ben Hecht
“Hollywood has the finest brains in the world out
there. But they’re up against all these vested interests, and vested interests
are the very devil for the artist.” Frank O’Connor
“My principal feeling about Hollywood is suicide. If
I could get out of bed and into the shower, I was all right. Since I never paid
the bills, I’d reach for the phone and order the most elaborate breakfast I
could think of, and then I’d try to make it to the shower before I hanged
myself.” John Cheever
“The only –ism
Hollywood believes in is plagiarism.” Dorothy Parker
“Itt was a hideous and untenable place when I dwelt
there, populated with few exceptions with Yahoos, and now that it has become
the chief citadel of television, it’s unspeakable.” S.J. Perlman
“Hollywood money isn’t money. It’s congealed snow,
melts in your hand, and there you are.” Dorothy Parker
Writers on Journalism:
“Journalism is literature in a hurry.” Matthew
Arnold
“Journalism is the entertainment business.” Frank
Herbert
“The difference between journalism and literature is
that journalism is unreadable and literature is not read.” Oscar Wilde
“The indispensable requirement for a good newspaper:
as eager to tell a lie as the truth.” Norman Mailer
“Journalism is the ability to meet the challenge of
filling space.” Rebecca West
And finally, for today:
“I once saw a woman on an elevator carrying a book
of mine. She held the book backwards so I could see myself peering over her
elbow. I found looking at myself very disconcerting and when she had left the
elevator I had a terrible feeling that she was taking my face away with her,
leaving me nothing to shave in the morning.” John Cheever
Hope you enjoyed these! More anon…
Blue skies,
Les
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