pseudolibrary

I'm an eclectic reader.

Stone Arabia

Stone Arabia - Dana Spiotta I read Dana Spiotta's Eat the Document in a high school book club. There's even photos in the yearbook of the 4 of us reading it. Maybe my memory of reading the book is replaced by the photo. That's what Spiotta's narrator, Denise, would say in Stone Arabia. Denise is the true underdog in a story reminiscent to me of Egan's A Visit from the Goon Squad. Spiotta's novel being the tragic bootleg version. The title, for me, describes the quintessential violent feeling of memory, almost-memory and the incredible pressure in "making memories". This latter activity is Denises's brother's specialty. Nik is too cool for any school of rock or thought. He misquotes at will (look for the quote attributed to Gloria Steinem) and makes progress without profit. He is the locus for all the imaginative powers of the reader. Denise takes all the punches and Nik gets the glory.

The structure, like Goon Squad, is new and startling. We're talking messed-up chronology (not all the way through, only enough to let us know not to get our hopes up about Denise). There's redaction - even to the point of redacted structure (Denise doesn't want it to be a diary). The novel, even at this level, is driven forward (and backward?) by Denise's unwillingness to be a slave to memory. There's also exerpts from Nik's Chronology, and scripts from Ada's (Denise's daughter's) film. Reading Stone Arabia is a mimesis of Denise's reading of web sites, media and her own perusal of her memories. It's startling when Denise is referred to by name, perhaps because of her imprint on all the facets of the novel.

In honor of Nik and his Chronicles, I'll distill my review into a faux-Chronicle exerpt (see Stone Arabia, pages 42-3):

I'M WITH STONE ARABIA
The Back Page Vital Stats
Stephanie Miller tells us her opinions and observations

Title: Stone Arabia
Author: Dana Spiotta
Length: 233 pages
Published: July 2011
Cover: Red, meant to look like a faux Chronicle. Notice that Dana Spiotta's name is copyrighted. Best joke of the book.
Themes: Loss, memory (see previous theme), aphasia, debtedness, media-dependency, ego-tripping.
Settings: L.A., web-sites, TV, punk/glitter/glam scene, stuck in traffic.
Strengths: Nik's Chronicles, Denise's memories of childhood, Denise's dates with Jay.
Weaknesses: Nik's fake letter (supposedly written by Denise), the visit to Stone Arabia and Ada.
Best Minor Character: Tommy Skate
Best Moments: Jayne Mansfield, James Woods, Wilton's Birthday Cakes, SARS.
Worst: grocery store, pills, WIC.
Overall Grade: B+


You should read it - not just because Thurston Moore (of Sonic Youth) blurbs it. It's a wake-up call to those of us in limbo about cutting the mult-media ties that shouldn't bind memory to mind.

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