Just thought I’d plug The Watchmen to celebrate the release of the film
Click HERE To Buy The Watchmen
“…Look up and shout “save us!” and I’ll look down, and whisper “no.” - (Rorschach.)
With the film soon to hit the big screen, you may find the original graphic novel (written by Alan Moore) popping up on shelves in bookstores across the country. The other day in fact I walked into Borders and they had about thirty copies displayed with the book’s various covers and editions. The Watchmen is the most ‘celebrated’ graphic novel of all time which adds a certain risk to the film’s success – having to live up to so many people’s expectations.
I won’t pretend to know a lot about graphic novels or comics, maybe it is a lack of understanding that keeps some people from giving books like The Watchmen a chance. That or a pre-conception based on popular generalizations that comic book readers are geeky teenage boys. What The Watchmen deals with goes beyond super powers and teen angst. The plot revolves around a group of heroes who have been forced into retirement from their vigilante acts by law. Opening years from when these heroes went their separate ways, one of them is murdered and it is only Rorshcach, one of the heroes who perseveres to solve the crime. A crime unravelled slowly through the story, presenting a deeper mystery suggesting the threat of nuclear war, as many other faces from the past get tangled into the plot as well. These characters are explored both through the story, flashbacks and chapters dedicated to their past. One character key to the story is Dr Manhattan, the only “superhero” in the story. History has been re-written with the Americans winning against Vietnam, using Dr Manhattan’s ability to control atomic structure.
This leads the US (set in the 80s) to be transformed into a futuristic (Substantially greater) super power. But with his disappearance panic ensues with the only reason for 80s Russia not attacking the USA, now gone. On the surface, the plot seems like a playful satire on America’s fear of communism and losing their own power. But The Watchmen delves deeper into the psychology of the characters. There is often conflict between them, and individual hang ups . Laurie for instance, is a hero unsure if she has taken the right path in life having been pushed into vigilantism by her mother, a member of the Minutemen – the past generation’s heroes. Laurie is Dr Manhattan’s lover but pursues Night Owl after a fight resulting from Manhattan’s neglect. He leaves Earth after being accused of causing cancer in those who have gotten close to him and is lost to find a reason to help Laurie later, having become disillusioned by the human race etc, when his help is needed back home. It is a story layered in emotions and complex relationships rather than superheroes and masked villains.
Within the tiny borders separating each scene, a full world is realized. It is dark, blood stained and overflowing with corruption, sex and murder. The masked vigilantes are conflicted by morals and their own desires. They are Fearful and often resentful. A far more engaging cast of characters (than say, most comic book characters) to keep the pages turning, over the hours you’ll read this unique novel.
Hey everyone, just a quick update to let you all know that I am now on Twitter
“How much for a f**K?” He asks!
Then I realize this may be a bad omen to my week – this being what started it off. I read the message on Facebook again then replied “Oh, I wasn’t aware that it said ‘escort’ on my profile, but let me assure you if I were to sell my body (which I will not be doing), it wouldn’t be cheap!”
Things got worse though, not only did I get the flu, but there was a little STI scare as well! Now there is no need to change your opinion of me just yet – I am a very careful person and so it just goes to show you that the risks are very real, we have all heard of a friend’s friend becoming HIV + if not one of your friends. So the moment I started getting symptoms of an infection I hurried off to the clinic. I was surprised to see people cruising in the waiting room, I sat down and across from me was a short brazilian escort looking 20 something, and next to him some skinny boy whom along with the brazilian tried to look me up and down, then the men that followed me in the hours we waited.
I know of people who will not get checked because they’re scared of some of the tests. If you’re ignorant of what goes on behind closed curtains in clinics, let me inform you. Firstly, they take a swab of the back of your throat, secondly, they need some blood – how do they get the blood? A needle of course – but don’t get squeamish…yet!
Then the nurse will use a small plastic swab and will gently push it through your urethral opening (Or, piss slit).
She showed me the small red stick “Only this much.” She says, showing me the length, equivalent to that of half a Kit-Kat’s length, with her finger and thumb. “Only!” I say and we laugh, my laugh more nervous than hers sympathetic.
Now it has to be done, so deal with it – you may have heard it hurts, but it doesn’t – at most you’ll feel a little bit of discomfort but it’s over quickly – seconds quickly. The final swabs are up your bum, so lay on your side and get your knees up to your chest, I’m sure the nurse doesn’t need to wait around looking at your cheek canyon so relax and let him/her get on with it.
After I was given some antibiotics I was free to leave – when I got home later I ended up getting food poisoning!
So two weeks later and still paying the price for accidentally eating raw chicken, I return to the clinic – all my tests are negative – not one infection or disease. If you were wondering how exactly I got into the situation in the first place (thinking I had caught something)…well then you can just keep on wondering, can’t you.
The guys at FailBlog have come across this book, take a look at its title!
What is there to know about Daniel Allen Cox?
Well, Mr Cox is a handsome outgoing guy who has brought his first published novel, Shuck, to the UK. The book is loosely based (50% to be as exact as the author) on his experiences in The Big Apple. “Shuck is the intense, dazzling diary of Jaeven Marshall, a quasi-homeless hustler who seeks his fame and fortune in New York, where he tries to manage his reputation as the city’s porn star du jour when he’s not dumpster diving, tweaking, or trying to get published. As his dreams of becoming a literary star grow dim, and when his love affair with a moody painter becomes hopelessly messy, he tries to reconfigure his life by documenting obsessive lists from found trash, and by hustling, which steals little pieces of his body and scatters them all over the city.”
I had the chance to ask Mr Cox about his work and a little bit about his life as well:
Shucking refers to the speedy removal of corn husks, oyster shells, trousers, skivvies, and petticoats. This group of objects, it would seem, share an innate sense of urgency: they must be handled with a quick hand, and delay is unwelcome. Why postpone anything related to food or sex? If the only thing between you and a good fuck is an annoying piece of clothing, you need to shuck that nonsense, pronto.
Q. What is your most memorable experience of Shucking? Is it a good memory or a bad one?
It was when a photographer shot my erection in front of a big bay window, silhouetted against the twin towers of the erstwhile World Trade Center. My cock was exactly the same height, but that was likely due to camera tricks. My porn career crumbled around the same time the towers did. It’s kind of creepy now, when you think about it, so I’d rather not discuss it further.
Q. Do you think there is much difference between being a porn star and being published?
For starters, no one comes in my face when I finish a scene, and I’m no longer paid in bills that smell like sex, which is a bit of a downer. I get more sex propositions as a writer than I did as a porn star, but then people realize I’m not Martin Amis, and they politely fuck off. But there is no real difference, because sex work is work, and all work is a form of prostitution. For the rest of your life, people will be paying you for services that your body performs. And you’ll take the money.
Q. What was the key factor in Shuck becoming published internationally? Sales? Or is it easier to crack other countries from your side of the pond, than say our side?
Arsenal Pulp Press has an excellent distribution network, one that reaches into the cozy corners of the reading world, so I’m lucky. I understand that most of its books are sold outside of Canada. For the second part of your question, that depends on local sexual tastes. Do Canadian accents make British people wet? There’s a bit of a UK accent fetish here, so I was wondering if I could turn my own maple syrup stutter into a marketing tool. What do you think?
D.A.C (Author of Shuck) - Photo by Marek Wlazlo
“I’ve managed to be pretty transparent in my “personal life”, whatever that means.”
Q. Was you ever asked to take something out of the book? And for what reason?
Absolutely not. Arsenal Pulp Press is founded on diversity and it has been instrumental in fighting censorship in Canada. I was lucky to perform at Little Sisters bookstore in Vancouver, famous for waging a decades-long battle with Canada Customs over books seized for obscenity. They have made great headway in opening avenues of personal expression and sexual knowledge in this country. Because of these angels, I can write what I want. On the other hand, I would love for border officials to flag Shuck as dangerous literature. A literary bonfire would be even better.
Q. Jaeven, your protagonist, is based on you but better looking you have said. What aspects of the character did you make worse than yourself?
He could learn to take better care of himself. What kind of idiot leaves an infection unattended for weeks at a time? Money is no excuse, because he could’ve unzipped, done a handstand, and pissed in the wound. And Jaeven is a bald-faced liar. It’s a given that as a fiction writer, I’ve learned how to weave varying degrees of truth, though I’ve managed to be pretty transparent in my “personal life”, whatever that means.
Q. Is there anything about your old New York lifestyle that you miss?
I miss stumbling out of a club on a pitch-black Wednesday morning, buying a blueberry cream cheese bagel, and saying “damn, this tastes like beer.” I miss movie audiences that scowl when you bring popcorn—how low-brow!—into the theatre. Most of all, I’ll miss the little survivalist ruses I had to develop. When I was evicted from my one-room rat’s nest in Brooklyn, I had to patch up three hundred push-pin holes in the wall with toilet paper and whiteout, just to get my security deposit back. The landlady should have paid me more—it was a work of art!
Shuck will be available to buy on the 26th February
To Order A Copy Of Shuck Click Here
Or Here (WhSmith)
…Chris.
I haven’t updated this page for a while, so I offer my apologies to the millions of fans that come to this site daily if not hourly. I have returned – back from quite a tough few weeks in my life. I’ve had to make hard decisions, choose between what I want and what I think is right. I won’t go into the details in this post.
On a different note, I want to take this opportunity to express my adoration for my Mac. For the last few days I have been ill, sitting around feeling sorry for myself without much energy to do anything at all really. My MacBook has been my window onto the world, and so I just wanted to say…
I Love you My MacBook
P.S. I will be interviewing an author on WordShock sometime within the next few weeks- check it out. His book has already found success in the west and is out in the UK and Australia this month. SHUCK … (By Daniel Allen Cox – You may have seen him around here before), “…is a remarkable peep show of a novel about what binds artists and prostitutes, and the collateral damage that happens when they try to recover what they have lost.”
