Gorgeos George
‘PEOPLE NEED A MOUTHPIECE TO SAY THINGS THEY COULDN'T NORMALLY'
Wesley Stace leads a schizophrenic life as a novelist and singer-songwriter. Doug Johnstone finds it unsurprising that a ventriloquist’s dummy narrates his new book
entriloqiiism is creepy. l-‘rom traditional yaudey'ille acts and their scary wooden schoolboy dummies through to Keith llarris with his hand up ()i'y-ille's jacksie. there‘s something
distinctly unsettling abotit this mostly del'tinct l‘orm ol’
entertainment. So why base a noyel around it'.’ l-‘or Brooklyn-based linglish writer Wesley Stace. the initial trigger was an old dummy ol' his grandt‘atheik which was still kicking around the handy home.
‘I started thinking that y'enti‘ilotitiism is really what writing liction is all about.‘ he .says. ‘Noyelists are really yentriloquists. So many ltthls oy'er the last ltltl years haye been about narratiye Voice and dodgy narrator's. it seemed surprising that there weren‘t any books based around yentriloquism. Why isn‘t there a noyel that strips that metaphor away and makes yentriloqiiists the main part ol' the noyel'.”
Well. now there is. By George spans 70 years and tour generations ol’ the l‘isher family. a showthsiness- obsessed clan lull ol~ secrets and lies. and tells the story ot‘ (ieorge. the family dummy. as well as the lite ot' the put-upon son. also called (ieorge. \Vith hall the
book narrated by the dummy. it‘s an ingenious way or
examining the schi/ophrenic psychology that lies at the heart ot‘ not only \entriloquists. but all oi tis. ‘()n one leyel. oby'iously I want people to be
engaged.~ Stace esplains. ‘But there‘s also a greater
psychological truth about why the dummy is talking at all. and that‘s to do with people needing a mouthpiece to say things they couldn‘t normally. .-\.s Freud pointed out. the dummy is the yentrilotluist‘s id. he‘s the one who says the nasty things. Jtist think of Rod Hull and limu. When you strip away the
28 THE LIST -‘~— ‘ 5 Oct JD.”
dummy. you‘re lel‘t with a person doing yiolcnce upon himsell‘: it‘s himsell that he’s lighting with. locking in a bos. saying riide remarks to.‘
By (it'll/fee is Stace‘s second noycl. llis debut. .lli'ylm'liiiit'. t‘cceiy ed widespread acclaim on both sides ol' the pond upon publication in ZtitlS. winding UP on the (iuardian l'irst Book .-\ward shortlist and becomng a bestseller in l-‘rance. Set in the l.\’_‘~tls and based around the adopted child iii an eccentric lord. it shares a similar theme ol lamilial dysliinction. 'l loye lainin melodrama. and he always oncd writers like Dickens. l'iielding. 'l‘i'ollope and 'liliackci‘ay. and there‘s something about heritage and lamin that runs through all their work.’
Stace has something ol a schi/ophrenic double lite ol’ his own. When he‘s not bashing out great romping historical noyels. he has a successl'iil career in the States as .loliii Wesley llarding. making ol'lbeat tolk— pop since he moyed there in the early Ulls. llaying toured with Lou Reed and Iggy Pop and duetted with Bruce Springsteen. he's recently linished his I’lth album. recorded with members ot~ RliXl. His most l‘amotis moment. though. was probably haying his song. ‘l'm \Vrong .-\bout liyerything‘. l‘eatiire on the ng’ll l‘lt/t'llly stilllltlll'itc‘l’s. \Vliere tlUC\ he l'llltl lllL' time l'or it all'.’ "lilie guilty secret about music is that it
just doesn't take tip yery much time.' he laughs.
'l)oing 5() gigs a year and writing I: songs l'or an
album doesn‘t take long. I don’t worry about tinding the time for both. ljtist go to my ol‘tice and work.’
By George is published by Jonathan Cape on Thu 18 Oct.
8 EVENTS
33‘ Michael Palin lo hook into his BBC show New Europe. the (Bx-Python guy \Vlll be calling in to Sign cepies ot the book ot the same name. Waterstono's. Edinburgh, Mon to Oct.
:2: Alasdair Gray With Old Men Ill Love haying rust dropped onto the nation's shelves. get along to one of these events to see a Scottish literary legend in the flesh. Royal Concert Hall, Glasgow, Fri 72 Oct; Borders Books, Glasgow. Sat 73 Oct.
=3: Jackie Collins Joan‘s sis pops by to chat about her quite literally unbelievable career and her latest attair. Drop Dead Beautiful. It's not often you get someone With this level of glamour in these parts. so make the most of it. Floya/ Concert Hall, Glasgow. Wed 77 Oct.
>1: Wesley Stace The man also known as John Wesley Harding knocks up a daring tale of ventriloqursm. See preview. left. Jonathan Cape.
=3: Helen Mirren The grand dame of British drama stops polishing her Oscar for a minute to deliver a glossy and literate memoir about her life from Southend-on-Sea to the Hollywood Hills. See revrew. page 29. Weidenfe/ol 8 Nico/son.
Nicolas De Crécy In Glacial Period. this former colleague of Sylvain Chomet brings us a Cryptic tale about some explorers stumbling upon a mystical building isolated in a future ice age. See review, page 30. NBM/Comics Lit.
=E< Heath Robinson The iconic English cartoonist has his absurdist humour gathered up in a bumper collection called Heath Robinson '8 Helpful Solutions. As ironic a title as it gets. obviously. See review. page 30. Cartoon Museum.