Rick Kleffel is a very, very awesome guy. Or in this case, I should say, Ferry, Ferry awesome! One of the hardest-working, most indefatigable voices in indie coverage of fiction—spec and more—he rolls in the very very first review of my latest full-length prose translation, Jean Ferry’s The Conductor and Other Tales, at his site The Agony Column:
Ferry’s prose pieces are short and often embrace a tart spirit of self-contradiction. He’ll et the reader up with an lavish and sometimes graphic description of a place or an event; a trip to Easter Island — and then deny the truth of what he’s written. He makes it real for the reader, then suggests it is not. Of course, where the lies begin and end is the question, and the import of the something being “true” as well. Ferry’s stories reflect a deep and thoughtful conception of the reading experience, and he uses this to a degree as a plot point…
This is a perfect one-a-day antidote for reality in all its clunky, gory glory. Consider these seeds, prose to be planted in your mind and left to grow very, very wild in the fertile soil of your unconscious life. It’s possible the best effects of reading this book may not be accessible to conscious thought.
Kleffel continues his coverage with a podcast interview. It was a thrill to be quizzed by such an insightful and perceptive reader; in typical esprit d’escalier fashion, my mind was predictably buzzing with add-ons, caveats, and quips hours after the interview. Excerpts from the interview were also broadcast on KUSP’s 88.9 Central Coast Public Radio (6-7 PM PST, December 8th). On Rick’s show there, I had the huge honor of joining Susan Stinson, Jeff VanderMeer, and Jonathan Lethem.
Thank you, Rick!!!
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