October 21.2005 »
45
BOOKS
ombining two different genres into a
single work can be a challenge for any
writer, particularly the tricky combina
tion of horror and comedy. Pet boutique
owner and West Hollywood resident Hal
Bodner t<x>k this challenge for his debut novel,
the unfortunately titled Bite Club (Alyson Pub
lications, 2005; $14.95 softcover), taking the
risk that grisly vampire slayings, WeHo city
council intrigues, a compulsive-eating but sassy
straight female coroner and rampant violent
slapstick would fonn a cohesive whole. It
doesn’t, in a big way.
The happy-go-lucky coroner, Becky
O’Brien, is a medical genius and is almost
never seen without some candy or dessert on
its way into her mouth, or smeared all over her
face. When the coroner’s office becomes
swamped with the bkx)d-drained corpses of
waxed, toned pretty boys, she calls upon the
help of her old college friend Chris Driscoll,
who happens
to be a vam
pire himself,
to get to the
bottom of the
mystery. Chris
moves out to
West Holly
wood to help
Becky, with
his extremely
annoying,
flamboyant
young protégé,
Troy, preced
ing him to get
a little deco- •
rating done—
The vampire strikes back
C
Hum sucks readers in; Club just bites
by J emiah
J efferson
and of course stir up some trouble so that the
quieter, devoted Chris can flex a little vampire
fang in defense of him.
Unfortunately, Bodner lets his own enthusi
asm for the story run away with him, populat
ing the novel with characters both cliched and
unbelievable, and displaying more attitude
than storytelling. It’s a shame he isn’t as funny
as he thinks he is; if he were, this novel would
he a riot.
More successful is Calgary, Alberta, author
Suzette Mayr’s strange, dreamlike Venous Hum
(Arsenal Pulp Press, 2005; $16.95 softcover),
which is something
like a dark-comedy,
lesbian, Canadian
Romy and Michele’s
High. School Reunion.
The book is extremely
sparse on horror ele
ments, waiting to
intrixluce them until
more than halfway
through the novel, but
the uncanny is never
far from the surface,
and nothing is ever
completely what it
seems.
Lai Fun Kugelheim,
though she’s married
to the lovely and successful
Jennifer and mother of baby
Fredrick (named after rhe
homosexual king of Prussia),
is having an affair with Thor,
the husband of her best
friend, Stefanja, to her own
confusion and distaste. After
the death of one of their high
schixil classmates, the perky
Stefanja decides to organize a
20-year reunion “before any
body else dies.” In the process,
Lai Fun sees Ste
fanja returning to
the same clique
of square, plastic,
hypocritical popular kids as in
high school, and can’t help feeling
the familiar alienation all over
again. Lai Fun finds herself in the
midst of teen-age memories of the
struggle of being a biracial, queer
outcast, tangling up an already
complicated present of trying to
keep her affair a secret, managing
a second pregnancy and spending
time with her extremely strange
immigrant mother, who is a strict
vegetarian...most of the time.
Though the novel is not
always successful—in particular, its culmina
tion throws all logic to the wind and seems
hardly connected with the first 200 pages—
Mayr’s characters are original, well-drawn and
fresh, her slightly off-kilter alternate reality
full of surprises and relationship intrigues.
Unfortunately, the sharp satire and soap
opera complex web of relationships eventual
ly muddy the waters, and the author’s post
post-modern approach to structure holds the
reader at a distance. JH
Portland st*rf*ck*r JEMIAH JEFFERSON is the
author of Voice of the Bkxxl, Wounds and Fiend.
Home Theatre • Home Audio • Sound Advice
The Talley Trilogy
NADL73, 999.00
By Lanford Wilson
2627 NE BROADWAY
503-280-0910
Talley’s Folly
WWW.STEREOTYPESAUDIO.COM
October 6 - October 30
*?■<
4 Weeks Only
i Learn
to
Dance
Winner of the Pulitzer Prize
Arena Stage at TheaterlTheatre!
Romance
Money
Patriotism
Talley 6 Son
Country
October 6 - October 30
Follow the stirring journey of one
American family in 3 classic plays
by Lanford Wilson,
filled with humor, sorrow and
unforgettable drama.
Swing
Waltz
503-236-5129
out dandngeyahooxom
Foxtrot
4 Weeks Only
Theatre Noir at
TheaterlTheatre!
"Philip Seymour Hoffman's unmissable and unforgettable
performance as Truman Capote should make him the
front-runner for every Best Actor prize in the book. CAPOTE
is a movie that doesn't pull its punches. ITS A KNOCKOUT!*’
-Peter Travers, ROLLING STONE
Fifth of July
November 3 - 6,10 -13
profile
Staged Reading
Theatre Noir at
TheaterlTheatre!
BASED ON THE BOOK BY GOULD CLARKE SCJKJflAYBYOMIfUTTERNWI DIRECTED BY BENNETT MUIER
l .
lit
T h <». atre
project
(503) 242-0080
-
'ZA 1 /i Æ
1
o
%
Äh4
»ÍK í /
■ 4
X
I I
XZ>....2fc..>. t L
'Q
_ y
tar . jP'-
y I/A 1
Mr
> ■‘^»01
---------Hf «XL ¿IÑÍUÁI----------- 1
FOX
TOWER 10
1HOO FANDANGO x327
3430 SE Belmont Street ■ www.profiletheatre.org
VIEW THE TRAILER ÀT VÌWW.CÀPOTÉfìLMCOM
|