Novel Advice: a review

The author holding his fabulous book! (from Jay Bushman’s twitter feed)

You will recall that on the last day of The Year That Must Not Be Named, author Jay Bushman tweeted that Lichtenbergianism: procrastination as a creative strategy helped him get over a creative hump and go on to write his Novel Advice. I was quite surprised and gratified to know that my book was as helpful as I meant it to be. Of course I ordered his book immediately, and I’m equally gratified to tell you that it’s a feat to be celebrated.

The conceit is simple: Antigone has decided to write an advice column, an “agony aunt” column, to help other fictional characters who write in to her, under assumed names, of course.

This kind of thing could cloy very quickly, with smug winks and nudges to the reader about the character’s predicament, giving advice that is only too aware of the plot twists awaiting the hapless advice-seeker. Bushman’s book is the opposite of that.

Part of the fun of the book of course is identifying who wrote the letter. Dr. Jekyll (Out of Balance) — Anna Karenina (Restrained on a Train) — Shylock (An Honest Moneylender) — they’re in there (along with Mr. Hyde, later), and more. I will say at this point that it helps to be extremely well-read; of the 73 letter-writers, there were five whom I did not know at least by reputation, and three of those I still have no clue about. (Those are, for the curious, Common-Place Dauber, Purely Depressed, and Rides Down Everything. I’m sure they represent astonishing gaps in my literary knowledge.)

As for Antigone’s answers, they are astonishingly apt. They are well-thought out, sincere, utterly modern, and empathetic. They offer the woe-begotten an opportunity for self-reflection that — if the characters had had such skills — might have changed their lives… and the plot of the piece.

Again, Antigone betrays no more knowledge of the world of the character than the character has chosen to reveal. One or two phrases in her reply slyly glance at what we know vs. what the characters know, but it never becomes intrusive. You find yourself smiling benevolently, not rolling your eyes, and this I think is Bushman’s triumph.

In short, a fun read that becomes a lot more than it purported to offer. Highly recommended.

So, Jay — can I call you Jay? — as you work on volume two — and I presume you are planning a followup — here are my candidates: Kate or Petruchio; Rosalind/Celia/Orlando; Percy or Lady Blakeney; Jeeves; Gilgamesh; Jack Worthing; Jake or Brett. You’re welcome, and thank you!