[Jandek] Jandek Fictional Biography Forthcoming; Author to Read/Sign in Toronto & Chicago

[Jamie Morrison]

Frank Hardy:
>But what is really the point of a fictional biography of a real person? The world has enough half-truths. Why not just write a completely fictional novel inspired by Jandek? How does making crap up help us to understand the guy's music? <

That's not really the point, though, is it? Entirely, at least. Fact of the matter is, though some of us would like to deny it, there are two great appealing aspects of Jandek - the music and the persona/mystery. And, whether we like it or not, the appeal of the mystery outweighs the appeal of the music, for most people. Personally, I think Jandek's real genius lies in his/their/its keying into our concepts of the persona and the mytholigising of the artist when it comes to music, particularly artists we know little about (early bluesmen, etc.) He's recreated himself as a latter-period bluesman, upon whom we can construct any persona we see fit - and, in doing so, Danen has illustrated this unique artist-listener interaction we have with Jandek. He's stated clearly that his book has little or no bearing on the lives or characters of the real individuals behind Jandek, and anyone who knows anyone about Jandek will surely know that this book won't be the be-all and end-all for all discourse re: Jandek, myth and music. On the contrary, it's like a hat thrown into the ring - and shouldn't we throw ours in, as well, instead of condemning someone for making that first move?

Danen, I congratulate you - I can't wait to read your work, and when I first read your email it struck me how this was a book that really needed to be written, and how it made complete sense in conjunction with Jandek's oeuvre. No doubt the 'Corwood representative' thinks so too, from the amount of support you received. No doubt he's happy to have inspired someone in such a way. Well done!

Jamie
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