The good news? Unsaid number five is rumored to be coming soon! The bad news, David and I are way behind on getting through issue 4. Time to start rectifying that fact.
Andy Devine - Four Essays
Mr. Devine has some rather stringent rules for what should and should not be included in fiction, going down to the left of specific words. When reading his work, do you find yourself reading for the rhythm and sounds of the piece, or do you also consider the impetus behind the pieces? Do you ever disagree with him regarding specific words? Do you believe that quiet and quit are fine words to be used in fiction, but that quip and quite are not?
David McLendon
The appearance of Andy Devine’s Words in 2010 is not dissimilar to the appearance of Gertrude Stein’s Tender Buttons in 1914. Though published nearly a century apart, Words and Tender Buttons share a kind of compositional timelessness that frames them as kindred texts. Each is uncompromisingly original, and neither is marked by an anxiety of influence. What they hold in common is an uncommon difference. Each is held apart from anything that has ever been written, which in itself is a nearly impossible task.
As mentioned elsewhere, I first read Devine’s collection in one sitting, alone in my
room, slowly and aloud. This allowed me to experience the fullness of Devine’s spare compositions. What I have coined his “stuttering lucidity” creates a kind of psychosomatic sensation when read aloud and alone. One enters a place from inside language that is both incantatory and oddly pragmatic. The repetitions found in Devine’s fictions build and grow over his pages and are pushed onward by a series of thoughtful cadences that strengthen both the magic and meaning of each sound.
Literary critic Webster Schott once summed up Samuel Beckett’s How It Is by saying, “It is one thing to be informed by Shakespeare that life ‘is a tale told by an idiot signifying nothing’; it is something else to encounter the idea literally presented in a novel by Samuel Beckett.” I love How It Is, I read it at least once each year, but I would venture to say that Devine’s Words has sidestepped the ordinary a few steps further than Beckett’s masterpiece. His fictions are glossolalia as poetry, and Devine is the sole poet of this form.
Aside from the stories and novel contained in Words, there are the sections “Words” and “Thoughts” to consider. “Words” includes selections of words that should and should not be used in fiction. These selections may appear largely arbitrary, but as both an editor and reader of innovative fiction, I agree with most if not all of Devine’s entries. Yes, there is a vast difference between the words quiet and quite, and I cheer Devine for bringing this and other linguistic insights to the attention of the reader. The “Thoughts” section is comprised of “A Grammar for Fiction Writers” that I feel essential for any writer who wishes to produce serious writing.
I encourage all who are interested in new and lasting writing at its most innovative to seek out WORDS by Andy Devine. It is published by Adam Robinson’s fine and courageous press, Publishing Genius, and can be purchased here.
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