Gradually accruing rejections out there, staggering from place to place, is a novel manuscript I wrote a while back, my āfirst novel.ā This might be why itās not getting picked up: first novels are notoriously not good. But Iāve tried a few different places. It has had a few name changes but now itās just called Free Speech.
Three excerpts from the novel have been published at certain venues friendly to me ā two at Expat Press, one at Misery Tourism ā and this has been at once encouraging as these might represent high points of the book and a letdown as it creates a feeling perhaps of false hope that the rest of the book is salvageable. I have also myself here at my substack newsletter published three other chunks of the book that felt like they could be representative.
While I try to entice publishers with the book I thought I would offer the collection of excerpts here for you, my subscribers, in case someone would like to glimpse at least a sketch of the whole.
To summarize the book (this may be good practice for writing the dreaded synopsis that comes along with submitting a book to publishers) I can only say that while there are thriller aspects I would describe it as a comic novel that would probably fit most readily into the literary fiction category. An earlier version of the book told two parallel stories: a young aimless man with a chip on his shoulder living in rural New York State takes a job working on the estate of a rich family the Gelds, who recently moved upstate. The father, Larry Geld, has his eyes on a run for Congress and he feels like launching the candidacy from upstate is a good bet. The young guy working at the mansion helping the Gelds move in is named Archie Chamberlain and he is a kind of self-consciously embodied Faulkner character who represents the rural ālocalā population even though heās not technically from there, either. His rural identification is a kind of costume put on by a young person without roots who wants to decry the ācarpetbaggersā from downstate urban New York who move northward for peace and quiet and to set up life in the country. The Gelds gave a daughter Morgan Geld who is a spoiled, rich woman with a lot of pets, an animal lover. Sheās unpleasant and unhinged but beautiful and Archie starts falling in with her.
A lot of this was cut out and what was mostly left was the other storyline which is about a political consultant Michael Falkirk who is being forcefully courted by the Larry Geld campaign to work for the candidate seeking office. Falkirk is a pedantic, out of shape, awkward man with a little power since he has helped many candidates win races all over the USA. He doesnāt want to work for the Gelds, but he may have no choice as there are dark forces at work trying to persuade him. The āFree Speechā of the title pertains to Falkirkās insights as an āapplause analystā studying political speeches for their applause-getting lines, and trying to write such speeches for political candidates.
This book takes place mostly in spring of 2003 during the invasion of Iraq. This book was heavily influenced by my experiences as a fan/acolyte/thuggee cult member following David Foster Wallace, so it should be read with that fact in mind. Honestly, it should possibly also be rejected by publishers with that fact in mind, as it no doubt joins the ranks of many young menās attempts to write a maximalist novel full of detail and attempts to be brainy. Iām sure there was a sizable crop of Infinite Jest imitators trying to do novelistic cartwheels over the past couple decades, and Iām right there with them flexing my hamstrings and getting ready to tumble on the sweaty mats in the gymnasium. Maybe it doesnāt deserve to be published but I have had fun working on it and I feel like these excerpts at least have something good to offer.
Both storylines coalesce around the character of Morgan Geld who is the main character of the first chapter of the novel: āMorse Code Kissesā
https://expatpress.com/morse-code-kisses-jesse-hilson/
Morganās father Larry reflects on his past in 1960s California with wild man āRedā Stillskin in āClockā
https://expatpress.com/clock-jesse-hilson/
Archie Chamberlain thinks about all the places heās traveled in his young life in āArchie Chamberlain: Upstaterā
https://www.miserytourism.com/archie-chamberlain-upstater/
Now, the self published excerpts:
Michael Falkirkās memories of going to a week of āgovernment campā as a high schooler in āDeaf Con Oneā (In reality I was a NY Boysā State delegate circa 1992 and the situation in this work of fiction is not far off from the truth)
Archie falling under Morganās spell in āThe Dartā
Michael Falkirk the political consultant takes in a night at the opera in Manhattan and tries to fend off āRedā Stillskinās apparition in āMichael Falkirk at the Operaā
If you donāt want to follow the links and have just come this far and want to stop, thatās fine. Like I said the book is racking up a few rejections and Iāve withdrawn it once or twice, but if you out there in substack inbox land like what you see and have any leads for publishers, let me know. Maybe I should just move on from this book, treat it as a lengthy training exercise thatās a failure, perhaps cannibalize sections or just dump it wholly in the landfill, and write something else.
āāāāāāāā
For a musical selection today I am linking the entirety of Cucina Poveraās collaboration with Ben Vince (I think thatās his name) entitled There I See Everything. Iāve been listening to this on a loop for several months. Itās really good background music for writing or drawing or doing something creative. Itās got some otherworldly spacious female singer Dead Can Dance vibes, and sheās singing in Finnish which I donāt understand, obviously, but I want to. This album has pulled me out of several dangerous scary moments in the recent past. It was released on cassette recently and it has sold out, I think, and I donāt have a cassette player, so it was futile for me to try to get it, although I would like to support the artists. Listen: