#shadowbahn

[the-final-sentence]

But now the radio plays music, a tune he doesn’t know, and as he waits for Zema he changes the station, and changes it again, and—music on all stations now—keeps changing it, certain that, sooner or later, he’ll find one of his father’s favorite songs.

Steve Erickson, from Shadowbahn

[therumpus]

Out of the house and on my own, I faced the fact I didn’t much like who I was. I didn’t like my judgmentalism; I didn’t like my absolutism. I didn’t like my repression of natural empathy, my pinched lack of emotional generosity. How I had been thinking politically had less to do with what was wrong with the world and more to do with what was wrong with me, with my fears and insecurities, failings, weaknesses. Moreover, all those things were at odds with the things about myself that made me want to be a writer. So I decided I would change myself, be the person I wanted to be, be the person that I hoped I really had been all along.

SWINGING MODERN SOUNDS #78: Conceived As A Playlist

[famousfirstsentences]

...but she hangs up on him before he finishes.

Shadowbahn by Steve Erickson

[federaldust]

He heads towards a west that is the dreamer's true north, where the desert comes looking for us and curls at the door, a wild animal made of our ashes; hijacking the sun halfway, Jesse leaves his shadow at the crossroads. For the first time since his mad leap into another life, he hears in his head the singing that is his voice but isn't. Among the trains passengers is talk of a shadow track that cuts through the heart of the century with impunity, as though no time exists of calibration or counting, only an era of the mind. Every shadow hides a shaft to the center of the Earth, from which blows the gust of cancellation. In the distance, like the train's whistle, out of the dream-strafed countryside beyond Jesse's window, the singing of in his head grows louder the farther the train round's Vegas's nuclear id, where the flesh of the world is tattooed with light.

Steve Erickson, Shadowbahn.

[king23]

Oh MARONE! #shadowbahn #honestlycannottell #CPL

[therumpus]

But his crisis is also expansive, it’s a national identity crisis. Zan’s playlist is an American songbook, a way to remember. “The music is unlike any heard by anyone since what once was called the ‘American century…’” A sentence like this works when the grist of real loss drives it. It’s not hyperbole or melodrama, Erickson really feels this mourning through Zan.

Chris Vaughan reviews Shadowbahn by Steve Erickson.

[bookish-thinking]

Review: “Shadowbahn” by Steven Erickson

I received a copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I have so many questions.

There were many elements of this novel that made absolutely no sense. Take the one-page (two pages were a welcome but rare exception!) to start with. Like connected little snippets, each chapter was more of a scene - but then again, since they were linked in plot and narrative, why not combine them into one chapter? Secondly, what was the meaning of the titles - sometimes a traditional heading, sometimes a phrase seamlessly leading into the chapter proper - they were almost a poetry in themselves. Which genre should this fall into? Dystopia/Utopia (this was apparently a split America with a border running through Texas and a "Disunion currency", but this element was not introduced at all before 1/3 through), or magic-realism, or sci-fi, or metaphysical/supernatural?

Then again, there were certainly elements I could cherish: the twin (or pair) symbolism that permeated the whole story. Also the many alternative history story lines - a history without Elvis Presley, one (if I understood it correctly, I am not sure) where Kennedy never became president. The continuous importance of music in many forms. The clear typography of different segments.

Overall, however, too many questions remained at the end - there was no "solution". Or am I just overthinking everything since I am an English lit grad student? It was very modern and I certainly appreciate the basic idea - however, in the end, modern became ambiguous and unreadably vague. It is a novel for aficionados. Not so much for me.

“Shadowbahn” will be published on February 14th.

[litreactor]

Steve Erickson's 'Shadowbahn' Proclaimed Best Novel of Whatever Year it is Released by Jonathan Lethem

That's some pretty good advanced word.