Glue and Ink Rebellion

There is something about the writing of Jack Kerouac, Charles Bukowski, et al that appeals to me beyond the tales the authors weave. They tell stories of common men taking part in activities in real-life settings with immediacy, intimacy, and leave a thought in the back of the readers mind, this could be me. While reading, I can see myself ripping down the highway in an oversized car alongside crazy ol’ Cassady. I can picture myself at the bar or the horse track with Buk’. I feel that, if I wanted to, I could recreate Kerouac’s trips across America, his trip up the Matterhorn, his parties in New York, and his stopovers in Denver. Yet, there is always an element that can’t be recreated or reclaimed, and that is the epoch in which the stories of the Beats take place. True, San Francisco and New York still exist and the world continues to spin, but can we ever truly see society and feel the way these authors felt? It is difficult to venture a guess, and impossible to ever know. Because of this, the writing from the past is read with an air of reverence. Somehow out of reach, and almost ethereal.

Sean Carswell does not have this mystique, making his stories all the more personal. You may know of Sean, as he is the co-editor of Razorcake fanzine, one of the damn finest periodicals out there. Before receiving this book, I was aware of his talent as a writer, and looked forward to reading Glue and Ink Rebellion, a collection of short stories and essays.

Sean tells stories in a very Beat-esque manner. The stories are intimate glimpses into the lives of working class folk who can philosophize—and party—with the best of them. Hell, I thought, I know these people he’s writing about.

What is troublesome at first about this intense familiarity is that it doesn’t leave much to the imagination, and therefore has the potential to be a boring read. This anticipation was not helped by the first of the 13 pieces contained in the book, a story entitled “Springtime Tallahassee Noon,” in which the main character stumbles around a Florida town, encountering different individuals while searching for his missing truck, lost in the previous night’s drinking binge. The humor and irony are lost on me on this one, and I consider it a lapse in Sean’s judgment for placing this story first. What is the intended audience of this book? Sure, I can see some “punk”-type picking this up, reading the first story, laughing, and saying, “dude, that’s so happened to me before,” and then giving up on the book one or two stories later.

I mention this with such a tone of disappointment solely because the rest of the book is brilliant, and deserved to be regarded as such. It’s funny, insightful, witty, and engaging. Among my favorite pieces is “Nowhere, Alabama,” wherein the narrator’s truck breaks down in a remote Alabama town, giving him adequate time to take an impromptu tour of the village, only to find yet one more casualty of corporate franchising and ignorant, consumerist American psyche.

“I’ve Got a Bad Feeling About This” is an essay so ridiculous yet undeniably riddled with validity, it’s practically genius. Written in the wake of the WTO protests in 2000, Sean compares the Star Wars movies (most notably, The Phantom Menace) to the World Trade Organization fiasco. Plus, there is ample support for his theory that Star Wars and The Empire Strikes Back are actually Cold War tales.

Two other favorites include “Fifteen Bucks and a Cookie,” and “Face the Flying Sewage.” The former is the ultimate story of a simple assumption gone wrong (and is a heck of a funny “boy-meets-girl, boy-totally-fucks-up” story), and the latter is easily the funniest and grossest (though completely avoiding juvenilia) story of the collection. The narrator is a teenage boy faced with the daunting task of cracking open an ancient septic tank lid as part of his summer job working for his dad, a contractor. Like the narrator, I too worked summers leading up to college working for my dad, who is a builder/contractor, and have even assisted in tackling a septic tank or two. Thankfully, nothing ever happened to me quite like what occurs in this story!

I could easily go on raving about the other pieces of writing in this collection. Sean Carswell is one of the best writers in the entire independent publishing and magazine world, and it is a delight to read this book. Despite my qualms regarding the first story, this is an excellent effort, and is highly recommended.