April 16th, 2010 / 12:11 am
Author Spotlight

On “Phone by Darby Larson,” with digression

Phone by Darby Larson,” by Darby Larson, in the current issue of The Collagist, is one of the most refreshingly original pieces I’ve read in a while. The fading sequence of gray fonts mirrored at both beginning and end make the words, or ‘tips’ of the story, receed along an arc into visual space, as if the story itself were a giant sphere — a circular notion aptly mirrored in the jumpy, overlapping, entropic, and ultimately symmetrical narrative. Here, Larson (also per Abjective’s editorial fancies) is not just interested in telling stories, but writing them. In my mind, the two are different: the former merely a transcript of what one might say aloud to a spectator, the latter being actively aware, pensive even, of its ‘wordness’s’ function, capacity, limitation, and artifice. Oral history is fine, but I prefer writing that is seen, upon which, in this case, the structure looks like an almost palindrome, with wonderful tiny placed errors.

Larson’s short punctuated sentences act as a bridge between Zachary German’s and J.A. Tyler’s, both of whom represent extreme end-points of this tendency, for vastly different reasons. German’s is most ‘ironic’ and sophisticated, perhaps at once commentary and complicity regarding the new age (can’t believe I just said “new age”) of ADD-ridden fickle and/or disengaged beings; yet, there’s a detachment so extreme, to a point of linguistic excavation, one wonders if German is actually a monk in hipster disguise. Tyler’s compulsive ‘reminder’ few-word sentences (you’ll find them in a majority of his work) seem to point back to Beckett, in its conceit of cerebral abridgement, a kind of earnest bravery of words. Larson seems closer to Tyler in this regard, but with the self-awareness and cautious cynicism of German. As for his residency at HTMLGIANT’s comment section, he does seem a little too available, so it’s a good thing this isn’t dating.

Then there’s the Rocky mashup with borrowed “Yo Adrian” sound bite, all delicately balanced with another movie Edward Scissorhands — an unlikely pair, unless one considers that both are Jesus figures (most protagonists in mainstream film are). This intentional prism of authorship and narrative leads into the eponymous play of the title, the meta-author poking its head out. The impulse is to believe, simply, that Larson is somewhere inside this murky autobiographical story, whether he’s the boy or the man, or both. But I think that “Phone by Darby Larson” (not the title but the phrase) is meant to act as a gentle reminder — no matter how old the story is in the future — that this is being written, the present tense of the writing’s inception forever active and never in the past. Our timeline is simple, Larson is here, present; his writing, a present.

Tags:

42 Comments

  1. darby

      wow. thanks for this incredibly thoughtful write-up, jimmy. seriously.

  2. darby

      wow. thanks for this incredibly thoughtful write-up, jimmy. seriously.

  3. death-hustler ( the jerk )

      Jimmy Chen, who are you? ( Jimmy Chen ) You are very good at reading and letting us think a little bit too slowly in your wake. You have beaten this story in your re-telling of your reading of it ( I think) . Whatever is happening in the very clarity you take pains not to pulverize must also happen again like a row of silver studs above the work you so delicately but very precisely recompose according to the time line you insist upon: the present which is not flinching. Jimmy Chen, he reads and does not flinch.

  4. death-hustler ( the jerk )

      Jimmy Chen, who are you? ( Jimmy Chen ) You are very good at reading and letting us think a little bit too slowly in your wake. You have beaten this story in your re-telling of your reading of it ( I think) . Whatever is happening in the very clarity you take pains not to pulverize must also happen again like a row of silver studs above the work you so delicately but very precisely recompose according to the time line you insist upon: the present which is not flinching. Jimmy Chen, he reads and does not flinch.

  5. crispin

      like this. think darby might have the highest success rate of anyone i read.

  6. crispin

      like this. think darby might have the highest success rate of anyone i read.

  7. Tom K

      I liked this very much. Both the story and the write up.

  8. Tom K

      I liked this very much. Both the story and the write up.

  9. stephen

      this is “our” darby? *applause*

  10. stephen

      this is “our” darby? *applause*

  11. stephen

      “…one wonders if German is actually a monk in hipster disguise.” hehe….. nice write-up, jimmy, i enjoyed reading all of this. one thing seems ‘certain’ or at least very likely to me, and that is, zachary and his work are cunning.

      very nice story, darby.

  12. stephen

      “…one wonders if German is actually a monk in hipster disguise.” hehe….. nice write-up, jimmy, i enjoyed reading all of this. one thing seems ‘certain’ or at least very likely to me, and that is, zachary and his work are cunning.

      very nice story, darby.

  13. MoGa

      Enjoyed reading this, Jimmy (and Darby).

  14. MoGa

      Enjoyed reading this, Jimmy (and Darby).

  15. Sean

      Nomination for best nacho reference in a work of fiction 2010

  16. Sean

      Nomination for best nacho reference in a work of fiction 2010

  17. (not) Brent Newland

      word?

  18. (not) Brent Newland

      word?

  19. Matt Bell

      Thanks so much for this write-up, Jimmy– Darby’s story definitely deserves it, and I’m so happy to have gotten the chance to publish it.

      Sean, I look forward to seeing the nominations for that category this year. One of Darby’s and four of yours?

  20. Matt Bell

      Thanks so much for this write-up, Jimmy– Darby’s story definitely deserves it, and I’m so happy to have gotten the chance to publish it.

      Sean, I look forward to seeing the nominations for that category this year. One of Darby’s and four of yours?

  21. Dan Wickett

      The next night, we ate nachos.
      The next night, we ate nachos.
      The next night, we ate nachos.
      The next night, we ate nachos.

  22. Dan Wickett

      The next night, we ate nachos.
      The next night, we ate nachos.
      The next night, we ate nachos.
      The next night, we ate nachos.

  23. david e

      bizarre story. will have to put my thinking cap on this weekend and figure it out. of course i often think that about abjective stories. i fear i may be far too conventional.

  24. david e

      bizarre story. will have to put my thinking cap on this weekend and figure it out. of course i often think that about abjective stories. i fear i may be far too conventional.

  25. Matt Bell

      Okay, so three of Sean’s, one of Darby’s, and one of Dan Wickett’s, who has now apparently decided he’s a “poet.”

  26. Matt Bell

      Okay, so three of Sean’s, one of Darby’s, and one of Dan Wickett’s, who has now apparently decided he’s a “poet.”

  27. Sean

      I just wanted to seriously say that’s one of the best stories I have read in a long while. It’s why I like to read. It moved my mind and that made me smile.

  28. Sean

      I just wanted to seriously say that’s one of the best stories I have read in a long while. It’s why I like to read. It moved my mind and that made me smile.

  29. stephen

      yea, cool, i like it, darby. does seem like beckett meets tao meets zachary meets, darby.

  30. stephen

      yea, cool, i like it, darby. does seem like beckett meets tao meets zachary meets, darby.

  31. stephen

      i think my favorite thing about it is the title, “Phone by Darby Larson.”

  32. stephen

      i think my favorite thing about it is the title, “Phone by Darby Larson.”

  33. Thelmo

      yo, who is that painting by!?

  34. Thelmo

      yo, who is that painting by!?

  35. Eric Beeny

      Yet another reason Darby Larson rocks. Darby’s work reminds me of John Barth. Awesome insight, Jimmy…

  36. Eric Beeny

      Yet another reason Darby Larson rocks. Darby’s work reminds me of John Barth. Awesome insight, Jimmy…

  37. ridge

      Darby Larson is an all-around badass. Badass writer, badass editor. The Collagist never fails to dazzle either. One of the best journals in the land!

      Great post.

  38. ridge

      Darby Larson is an all-around badass. Badass writer, badass editor. The Collagist never fails to dazzle either. One of the best journals in the land!

      Great post.

  39. darby

      wow, thanks for the love all. appreciate it.

  40. darby

      wow, thanks for the love all. appreciate it.

  41. audri

      happy to see this one upwritten.
      felt like phasing without sound. of tense. in a vacuum. mathematical air. here. the fourth smoldering rubble wall. brainer candy than. plus nachos.
      i have not been floored about the (N)ternet and this has me floored.
      thanks darby, matt, jimmy

  42. audri

      happy to see this one upwritten.
      felt like phasing without sound. of tense. in a vacuum. mathematical air. here. the fourth smoldering rubble wall. brainer candy than. plus nachos.
      i have not been floored about the (N)ternet and this has me floored.
      thanks darby, matt, jimmy