Book XXVIII

[faustus]

XXVIII: Philip K. Dick, Voices from the Street (New York: Tor, 2007)

A reread, for the Paper, and it strikes me this time how fragile the world is - it's as if San Francisco and its peninsular could shatter. There's also a sense of racism - more engrained than I remember from the first read - and homophobia; the protagonist ends up on Market Street, part of which was SF's equivalent of the gay village. On the second read the autobiographical reading is even more tempting.

This is waht I wrote for Vector: I never checked if it appeared.


It is twenty-five years since Philip K. Dick died, and in that time all but one of the non-science fiction novels were finally considered publishable, as were an earlier version of VALIS (1981), Radio Free Albemuth (1985, w. 1976), expanded versions of The Unteleported Man (1966, 1983, 1984, w. 1964, 1965, 1979) and a rather charming children’s novel, Nick and the Glimmung (1988, w. 1966). Limited extracts from the Exegesis, his eight year attempt to grapple with his mysterious theophanies of February 1974, and outlines for aborted novels have also made it into print. In his mainstream novels Dick explored adulterous relationships and mixed race affairs, described rape and contraception and domestic violence, among salesmen and teachers and disc jockeys. I’ve always assumed that this material was too strong for New York publishers in the 1950s, although it might be that it was not strong enough to be another Henry Miller or Vladimir Nabokov. It was not until 1975 that Confessions of a Crap Artist (w. 1959) was issued, initially by Paul Williams’s small press, Entwhistle Books, and one by one the surviving manuscripts were issued, until WCS Books published Gather Yourselves Together (w. 1949) in 1994. Another decade has passed, without Voices from the Street appearing. And now, at last, it has.

My expectations for it were low, given this delay, and Lawrence Sutin ranks it two out of ten in his Divine Invasions (1989) biography. Twentysomething Stuart Hadley works in Modern TV and Sales, under the ownership of Jim Fergesson – and if you are experiencing a sense of déjà vu, that’s because a similar shop appears in Dr Bloodmoney (1965), although Hadley has become Stuart McConchie. Dick was not afraid to recycle unused materials – a Jim Fergesson runs a car lot in Humpty Dumpty in Oakland (1986, w. 1960) and a Stuart Hadley appears in The Crack in Space (1966). This Hadley is a frustrated artist, sometimes moving in radical circles, who perceives himself to be trapped in a marriage with the pregnant Ellen. All too often he disappears off on binges and takes women back to motel rooms, spending the food money. Fergesson dangles the possibility of him managing the store, but to do this he must grow up and conform. In the meantime a charismatic, African American preacher, Theodore Beckheim is in town and Hadley considers religion as a way out of his existential crisis. One day his friends Dave and Laura Gold introduce him to Marsha Frazier, the editor of a magazine called Succubus, and Beckheim’s mistress, giving him access to the great man.

Things fall apart in Dick’s mainstream novels, and this is no exception. Written in about 1952-1953, in the era of Billy Graham’s early crusades, it is tempting to see this as a self-portrait of the artist as a young man. Dick and Hadley share a childhood on the East coast, although Hadley is a year older. Marsha may be identified with Dick’s mother, and Sally, Hadley’s beloved sister, is perhaps a version of Dick’s twin Jane, who died in infancy. By 1952, Dick was on his second marriage, to Kleo, had quit his job at Herb Hollis’s record store and was writing science fiction stories. Hollis is surely Fergesson, and Dick must have felt the pull between artistic endeavour and being the breadwinner. But alcohol seems to be rarely his drug of choice, as it is with Hadley. Hadley’s interest in religion also echoes Dick’s own.

It is difficult to imagine that Dick was ever as racist as he allows Hadley to be, but the racism is endemic to the book. The silent Negro sweeping the street is a period detail, which perhaps makes us uncomfortable fifty years on, but Hadley is distinctly unhappy when he realises that Beckheim is African American. Hadley’s brother in law roundly abuses Dave and Laura for their Jewishness, and it rapidly emerges that Succubus is a neo-fascist magazine. There are also various disparaging references to queers. But this is a fallen world, and this bigotry is perhaps indicative of this.

The novel is remarkably well-written, with a sense that Dick is paying closer attention to his use of language than he was at most subsequent points: Fergesson is setting up his shop for the day: ‘He illuminated the luxurious Zenith poster, He brought life, being, awareness to the void. Darkness fled; and after the first moment of impatient frenzy, he subsided and rested, and took his seventh day – a cup of black coffee’ (12). And a description of San Francisco: ‘Behind them, the slope of the city rose, a solid cliff of white houses and buildings that kept going up. The city looked as if someday it might slide into the Bay and disappear. It looked as if it were already sliding’ (97). If there is a complaint, it is perhaps that the book lacks the frenetic forward drive of his later science fiction novels, and it is slow paced. Some of the details perhaps overwhelm the story. There is a late rush for drama, as Hadley literally hits crisis, but we are waiting a long time for the disaster.

All that being said, it is difficult to see why it took another decade for this book to come out, aside from perhaps poor sales figures of the earlier volumes. Despite – or because of – the earliness of it in Dick’s career – only Gather predates it – this would not be the place to start reading or to turn someone onto Dick. But it is a fascinating glimpses of where Dick might have gone and where he came from.


And the Pocket Essential verdict:

Written: 1952-1953.

Published: New York: Tor, 2007.

Story: June 1952, Oakland. Stuart Hadley, a would be artist in his mid-twenties, is trapped in a marriage with his pregnant wife Ellen and works with Jim Fergesson at Modern TV Sales and Service. At all too frequent intervals he goes on drinking binges and has affairs with women he picks up, as he attempts to find some meaning to his life. He wants to meet the charismatic preacher Theodore Beckheim, and does so via his friends Dave and Laura Gold’s acquaintance Marsha Frazier, the editor of arts magazine Succubus. Succubus is a fascistic and racist magazine, which disgusts Hadley. Hadley finally meets Beckheim, who is having an affair with Marsha, and who makes him a member of his religious society. Hadley almost rapes Marsha, and tears up his membership card in disgust. After his son Pete is born, Hadley is made manager of Modern TV Sales and Service, but it is not enough to satisfy him. He goes to a motel with Marsha and has sex with her, then kidnaps his own child to offer him to Beckheim. Failing in this he goes on another binge, and tries to head butt himself into the shop to get his wages. Months later, a badly disfigured Hadley decides to set up his own shop.

Recurring characters:Hadley is a serviceman, although he works more as a salesman. Jim Fergesson is a Patriarch, who is rather generous to Hadley. Beckheim is another one. Ellen is a too sympathetic figure to be a bitch wife, although Hadley is clearly dissatisfied by their relationship. Marsha is perhaps too old – in her thirties – to be a dark-haired girl, instead she has more bitch characteristics.

Recurring Ideas:Drugs: only alcohol. Madness: Hadley’s depression. Music: a few modern composers are mentioned, and Hadley is keen for the shop to stock new records. Race and Racism: Dave and Laura are sympathetic Jewish characters, although Hadley, his brother-in-law and Marsha are all anti-Semitic. Hadley is also ambivalent about African Americans.

Autobiography:Fergesson is Hollis, Marsha the older woman is his mother and Sally is inspired by Jane. There is another character called Charlotte, Jane’s middle name. It is very tempting to see Hadley as Dick, not quite satisfied by his lot, and searching for answers to life, the universe and everything. Certainly Dick worked in Hollis’s shop and spent part of his childhood in Washington, but Hadley is a year older and has more distinguished parents.

Referenced In: Fergesson and Stuart return in Dr Bloodmoney (indeed, this is surely its origin, although Hadley has changed his name to McConchie) and The Crack In Space. Fergesson is also there in Humpty Dumpty In Oakland and (presumably) A Time For George Stavros.

Subtext: This is a portrait of the artist as a young man: an apparently warts-and-all transmuted autobiography, although it is difficult to see Dick as being as racist as he allows his hero to be. On top of that there are various references to queers, which make uncomfortable reading. Most of the male characters, as well as Marsha, are fairly despicable – his brother in law is racist and is rude to Dave and Laura, Marsha is fascist (but is committing adultery with Beckheim), Fergusson is rude, racist and homophobic, and resents helping Hadley, and Hadley himself needs to get a grip. His racism is perhaps symptomatic of his situation. The language is pretty poetic, despite the uncomfortable situations.

The Verdict:Marital violence, interracial adultery, attempted rape, adultery, a man head butting a glass door and strong language including use of the ‘m’ word ... Tell me again why this didn’t sell in 1953? 3/5.

Comments

[buffysquirrel.livejournal.com]

How did you get a copy? Review freebie?

This one's on my wishlist, but the prices! the prices!