Sketchy Details

Cannonball Read 2: Book 11: Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts by Mark Twain

I'm obsessed with unfinished manuscripts. It's true. I take comfort in knowing that many writers (my guess is all of them except Stephen King) have writing they just never get around to finishing for one reason or another. For some, it's death. For others, it's the inability to find the right tone. And for others, it's utter craziness on the part of trying to recapture their childhood memories through a quasi-religious exploration of the nature of angels and the corruption of Catholicism. 

I'm writing, of course, about Mark Twain's No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger: Being an Ancient Tale Found in a Jug and Freely Translated from the Jug. Or is it Mark Twain's The Chronicle of Young Satan? Or is it Mark Twain's Schoolhouse Hill?

The answer is all three.

Mark Twain began work on his unfinished novel/story/novel/fragment around 1890, and continually churned out new chapters/versions/settings and burned large middle passages for twenty years. His obsession was only stopped by death. After his death, a well-meaning editor, Albert Bigelow Paine, published The Mysterious Stranger, A Romance with substantial edits and a new ending he swore he found in Twain's manuscripts. He didn't. It was a fraud and the entire effort was to protect Twain from accusations of sacrilege against Catholicism and other organized face. He also thought the tone was way out of sync with the rest of the canon and merged the humorous events from two manuscripts into the more serious plot of another to produce his edition. I have also read this version knowing it wasn't entirely real and still enjoyed it.

The basic conceit is fascinating and probably accounts for how I can't stop reading all the supposed true versions of the manuscripts. A group of young boys in a small village--sometimes in Austria, sometimes in America--stumble upon a mysterious stranger in a park. The stranger can produce many magical feats, such as providing food and bringing life to clay, and eventually introduces himself as Satan. No, not the prince of darkness; this is Satan's nephew, practically a child himself in the slow growth of angels. He is without sin, as only his uncle was foolish enough to eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, fight God, and be banished to eternal damnation. Young Satan lives by a literal code of mercy, where the only answer to end sustained suffering is preemptive death. Seeing as he can (or can't, or kind of can) see into the future, this turns into a major issue in (some of) the manuscripts.

Why so much background information? Because I finished plowing through a critical examination of the three principle manuscripts, the major fragments, and many other sources on this unfinished work of Mark Twain in Mysterious Stranger Manuscripts from the UCLA Berkeley Press. It's the only printed edition of this kind available and a fascinating read.

The version most people are familiar with, if they're familiar with it, is The Chronicle of Young Satan. Three young boys in Austria are torn between the influence of the new priest, the legacy and struggle of the old priest, and the kind young angel with a friendly face and sweet disposition capable of producing miracles. Against the advice of the new priest, the boys continue to see young Satan in an effort to improve their lives. They ask that he take care of the old priest and his daughter who can barely afford a loaf of bread and that he change the future to spare their good friend from a life of unending suffering worse than anything they could imagine. Young Satan, with his pure form of mercy, considers only the clearest method for each request. He provides the old priest with a cat that can produce food an money whenever they need it, leading to accusations from the town of witchcraft and ill-gotten gains. He spares the friend's suffering by arranging it so that he will die by the end of the week while he is happy. The young boys become increasingly horrified with the destructive consequences of Satan's mercy. Unfortunately, this version ends right smack in the middle of the next series of actions, often leading me to assume a wonderful speech from Satan after the mercy killing is the proper end of the book rather than all the unfinished nonsense in India. If you've seen the infamous "banned children's cartoon"from The Adventures of Mark Twain, you've seen my favorite scene (the clay) and this speech in gorgeous claymation. Be aware that the cartoon went with menacing, when Satan's is supposed to be nothing but charm and likability even when getting all stabby.

The second version, Schoolhouse Hill, is the shortest and the biggest departure from the other two editions. Instead of three boys in Austria, Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn discover young Satan and go on a series of adventures. This version is fine, but is more about a few cheap jokes than exploring the nature of faith and mercy. Perhaps more than the other true manuscripts, Schoolhouse Hill causes the most discussion solely because it introduces the notion of Satan being called No. 44. The actual written manuscripts and notes show a wide variety of numbers in series of numbers used to express the identity of Satan, from 404 to 96, eventually leading to 44. The obsession? Trying to figure out why it's that number and not any other. 

The third significant version, No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger, is the only version with an ending. It's also the version that Twain felt the most compelled to destroy while writing. Twain makes ample use of a printing press as a variety of metaphors relating to faith. Young Satan, now fully No. 44, believes in the power of the word and eventually uses the press to duplicate himself. This text introduces a castle magician, Balthazar, who is determined to eliminate No. 44 as a threat at all costs. The town begins burning duplicates at the stake, though each duplicate always returns to the print shop to continue working. The local priest sides with the original No. 44 but believes the duplicates are evil. No. 44 falls in love with his daughter and does everything he can to marry her. Eventually, when everything is falling apart in a wave of chaos, No. 44 vanishes in thin air. More than the other manuscripts, this one contemplates the nature of existence. Here, Satan is not an angel for he reveals everything and everyone is only a passing thought and will eventually disappear as he does at the end of the story.

The writing of the manuscripts is what you would expect from Twain: clean, thoughtful, and full of meaning in unexpected ways. The character of young Satan is especially compelling in all three texts, though No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger really starts to build up the townspeople as more important to the story. If I had to guess, the third version is the closest to what Twain wanted to achieve. The first goes too far into fantasy once it hits India and the second is just treading water in the universe of Tom and Huck.

If you have the time, investigating all three major manuscripts is a worthwhile endeavor for fans of Twain. If not, I would recommend giving The Chronicle of Young Satan a go as it really stands out as a beautifully rendered concept piece. The issue, unfortunately, is with titling. When I first encountered The Chronicle, it was mislabeled No. 44, The Mysterious Stranger on Project Gutenberg. There are editions of all three available that almost always take that title so finding the right one is needlessly confusing. Then, there's that Paine version still kicking around that throws everything off more. It's worth the effort to find the edition you want.

Game Time: Record Tripping

I like rhythm games. The genesis is surely an obsession with Mario Paint's music creation function where I would spend hours writing original songs with dog barks and car horns until my family sent me to my room to get the noise out of their heads. It grew to its peak in the late 90s when I began playing Dance Dance Revolution like it was my job at home and in the arcades. The interest hasn't faded away, even if the time available for Samba de Amigo and Amplitude has.

Record Tripping, a new game from Bell Brothers available at Newgrounds, is a different kind of rhythm game. It is not about the creation of music or playing in rhythm. Instead, the game plays tribute to the lyricism of Alice in Wonderland, combining spoken word with record scratches. You manipulate your scroll wheel like a turntable and your left click as an effect button to control movement in time. Scrolling down moves the recording backwards; up, forward. The goal changes in each of five levels, from navigating a ball through a maze to getting bunny rabbits on a train. There is a time limit and other factors of physics involved to make the game more challenging.

Though it does not take longer than five minutes to play, the clever controls and storybook-styled illustrations make Record Trippinga game with a good amount of replayability. The time based leader board doesn't hurt, either. You can also tweet your score. This may not seem like a big feature but it still amazes me that more online games aren't trying to use this feature as a publicity tool.

If you need a quick break from your work, Record Tripping is a fun diversion through Wonderland.

Side by Side by Susan Blackwell

What is Side by Side by Susan Blackwell? It is an entertaining online talk show at Broadway.com wherein Susan Blackwell--star of the wonderful, sadly closed, but not forgotten, Broadway musical [Title of Show]--interviews Broadway stars in intimate locations, like a corner table at Hooters or the upper deck of a Times Square tourist bus. The joy comes from how off-beat the questions are and how willing Susan Blackwell is to invade their personal space (for fun, not malevolence) to hilariously awkward effect. Some of the stars really embrace, others are game but end up with a hundred yard stare as Susan licks them on the cheek. Yes, as in, her tongue to their cheek.

Susan has a great presence in person and on film and was the perfect choice to become a correspondent and host on Broadway.com. For fans of musicals, this show is a treasure chest of references to shows, well-known and obscure alike.

I have a feeling, even if you don't know who half these people are (though you might recognize some for playing a doctor, lawyer, hooker, drug addict, or murder victim on a Law & Order or CSI, as most working NYC actors are practically required to), you'll still find the show entertaining. It's almost like rediscovering reality TV for the first time. Your apprehensive about what is going to happen and why you should care about total strangers, then get sucked into how ridiculous the scenario is. Just bask in the beauty of an online talk show where a conversation can include diversions on "handj's" and Equus or breast pumps and Cher.

There are only two episodes so far, but with the amount of stars in the opening credits (including "Hey, wasn't that chick on CSI?" and "That's the music director from that Legally Blonde reality show, right?"), I don't see this going away anytime soon. I've embedded the first episode after the jump to give you a taste of how this works Hmmm...there's embed code that I've inserted properly, but the video says it's unavailable. Episode 1: Sutton Foster, Jonathan Groff & Laura Benanti. You should watch the second episode to see the full potential.

Cannonball Read 2: Book 10: The Post-American World by Fareed Zakaria

Still on the back list of Cannonball Readings. If I posted more than once a week on it, I'd probably catch up. Oh well. Onwards.

I understand that Non-Fiction is a very broad market with lots of competition. Bookstores can fill an entire display table with the month's new releases on current politics, World War II, or scintillating new biographies of Baroque musicians. It becomes essential to nail a great title that stands out amongst the clutter. The Post-American World is a great title, but it's also my biggest issue with Fareed Zakaria's excellent book. It's misleading at best, attention/anger baiting at worst. The title would imply that Zakaria believe America no longer has power in the world or will no longer exists. Thankfully, that's not his argument at all.

Zakaria provides a thoughtful, well-researched look into what he refers to as "the rise of the rest." This means that many other nations that previously struggled to establish themselves in significant political, economical, and social ways on the international scene have not only gained a foothold, but are rapidly expanding in ways that starts to quickly shift the balance of power in the world. Zakaria basically argues that globalization, that four letter political word that has traditionally been viewed as a destructive failure, has finally started to come around to the original goals. We, as a nation, can no longer survive doing the same kind of politics and economics we have used for the past sixty years to be a dominant force in the world. It has become essential to begin collaborating with other nations on international policies or risk being left behind. 

For some odd reason, compromise scares many Americans. It's almost like revealing a sign of weakness to say we might need help once in a while. Zakaria argues that this attitude can be very damaging. He predicts that the US will face more and more opposition in international relations if the country continues to act alone on international matters. It was one thing when many of the nations America worked on were newly established after long colonial periods or post-war establishment; it's quite another when the nations have clout in international politics and have established their own political and economic culture. What was previously viewed as helpful is becoming increasingly viewed as hostile. 

Zakaria spends much of the book discussing rising superpowers like India and China, comparing their achievements to US achievements on superficial levels before exploring how and why they've achieved the growth they have, what they've learned from America, and where they can possibly go in the future. 

If you want an interesting read on how the world's political climate is changing, I doubt you can do much better in an easily approachable text than Fareed Zakaria's The Post-American World.

Cannonball Read 2: Book 9: Take Me Back to Afghanistan by Said Hyder Akbar and Susan Burton

Still playing catchup with the reviews. This one's the last from November, then we hit the December batch. Joy.

I'm not opposed to memoirs. I've experienced some that are rather engaging. Part of what draws me into a memoir is the quality of writing. It seems in many cases a good story can somehow trump the ability to craft a convincing narrative. But that's what a good ghostwriter/co-writer is for, right?

Come Back to Afghanistanby Said Hyder Akbar and Susan Burton, the aforementioned book fixer if you will, should be a compelling read. This is a first person look into the reconstruction of Afghanistan after the fall of the Taliban. Akbar's father worked directly under current president Hamid Karzai as the nation building began. Indeed, there are many intriguing moments. The one that sticks out the most to me is Akbar noticing a man with no credentials constantly in the building interacting with politicians, taking notes, and making phone calls. When someone finally confronts the man, they realize he had no authority to be in the building and may have been spying for a terrorist organization. That's unsettling.

My big problem with the book is the quality of the writing. I respect Burton for trying to capture Akbar's voice as best as she could, but I feel like Akbar doesn't have much of a voice. His knowledge and insight is fascinating, but how it's presented is not. Everything is a simple matter of fact. As far as I can recall, there are no subtleties in the text. If Akbar's going to talk about road construction funding being diverted to Al-Queda to ensure the safety of the construction workers and locals, he will talk about road construction funds. His personal experience and reaction is almost a moot point in the book. These are some of the more engaging moments of the book. I had fun reading about his apprehension riding on a luggage carousel to get into an airport under the suggestion of people authorized to grant him access. When talking about his personal political heroes in Afghanistan, I feel like I could really like him. Come Back to Afghanistan just doesn't focus on those great personal moments.

I almost feel like Akbar had the opportunity to write this book too soon. Maybe with a few more years to reflect on his experiences, this could have been a powerful read. As it stands, the book offers insight into a tumultuous political situation and not much else. It's educational for certain, but very dull.

Cannonball Read 2: Book 5: Make Your Own Damn Movie by Lloyd Kaufman

Lloyd Kaufman is a unique man. As a technical filmmaker, he voluntarily stepped away from Hollywood productions in the 1970s and never looked back. As a producer, he has dedicated his career to the pursuit of true independent cinema, for better or worse. And as a director, he managed to turn questionably sexy horror films into iconic symbols.

Lloyd Kaufman is Troma. This is the independent production company behind such classics as The Toxic Avenger, Sgt Kabukiman, NYPD, and Tromeo & Juliet. He has inspired countless modern horror directors to produce hilarious, gory debut horror films and be swallowed up by the studio system thereafter (need proof: James Gunn started with Troma, then wrote the screenplay to the live action Scooby Doo; he has since atoned for his sins and embraced digital distribution for film projects). It's not an easy road for the truly independent filmmaker, and Lloyd Kaufman doesn't try to pretend otherwise.

His book, Make Your Own Damn Movie, is a must read. Not just for those interested in making a movie, but for anyone interested in the film industry. Kaufman's voice is strong, smutty, and funny. He makes reading about financing a film as entertaining as the film itself. With helpful advice like giving nickel bjs behind the bus terminal to fill in gaps in production budget and keeping a man and a woman behind the casting table at all times to mitigate potential lawsuits, Make Your Own Damn Movie somehow manages to find a balance between the absurd and the educational. It's like the candy coated rim on a bitter cocktail: it makes it all go down much easier.

A book filled with anecdotes, advice, and jokes from Kaufman would surely be worth reading, but Make Your Own Damn Movie goes further. Troma staff, past and present, voluntary and coerced, write long passages detailing aspects of filmmaking they have a different perspective on or recollections of hellish experiences in the trenches of independent cinema. Throw in footnotes that often read like non-sequitors, arguably libelous statements about the biggest names in Hollywood, inspiring stories about rat feces and dentists, and transcribed (probably imagined) fights between contributors, and you have a bizarre and enjoyable read. The final result is an open-minded text that makes it clear there is no right answer when it comes to the film industry.

Well, in Kaufman's mind there is a right answer, and that's just making the movie however you have to within the confines of the law. Better to have a finished film that's pure crap than a perfect film that never hits one frame of filmstock. Considering the man is running one of the only pure independent studios and distribution companies and has for a very long time, I'd take that as good advice.

12 Days of Sketchies: Day 9: Outstanding Achievement in Non-Fiction

Non-Fiction, used here as a catch-all for television, film, and web experiences not manipulated within an inch of their life (like competitive Reality TV, worthy of its own day), is just as much fun as fictional entertainment, only based in reality. But not overly scripted reality.

Let's get to it.

Sketchy Recs: What to Do This Weekend: 4-6 December 2009

In Theaters: Brothers: I'm intrigued by this film. The reviews are decidedly mixed, but the cast is receiving raves. I'm curious to see what Tobey Maguire does with a challenging role for once. Maybe I'll finally be able to stop accidentally calling him Elijah Wood and vice versa, since Brothers could mean the "No, not the one in Sin City and Free Willy (thanks for the correction, Karin), the one in Spiderman and Brothers" distinction. Iraq war dramas are big this year and this one looks at the home life rather than the war itself. Or else you can see Precious and finally understand what has been missing in your cinematic life.

Listen: The Fame Monster by Lady Gaga: In the wake of a disappointing Grammy categorization (apparently she's just a dance artist with one cross-over hit and surprising albums sales), I can still take joy in listening to The Fame Monster. The album is far more sonically challenging than the first and even more catchy in its total lack of care towards what should be popular in today's music scene. She's not just a simple pop (or dance) artist. There is surprising depth here and potential for great growth in the future. I'm excited for her career.

Watch: Ghost Hunters Academy: Let's be clear on this: I support Ghost Adventures for sheer hillarity and results, but there are fans of Ghost Hunters/HQ/International out there. I respect that. I think Ghost Hunters Academy is a stronger show by value of combining a clear explanation of what is being done with a smarter approach to competitive reality shows. Yes, there are eliminations, but the contestants are acting like respectable, professional human beings and maintaining a spot in the contest by virtue of performance, not manipulation. The hosts are intentionally screwing with the contestants to ensure no crazy, naive, or just plain stupid people stay on the show too long. That's not to say there aren't crazy people on the show or random acts of utter stupidity. If you ignore the sexism (and it's hard, believe me, when the male contestants are admonished for letting female contestants take the lead in an investigation) and constant hatred towards empaths/psychics trying to integrate science into their own investigation (the third episode has them eliminating one because the crew just can't work with that kind of evidence even if she was willing to do extra research on her own to verify her readings), it's entertaining and informative. On the whole, it is demonstrating a level of sensible thinking that other shows of this kind lack. All of the episodes are available online at SyFy.

Visit: Horror Board Short Story Contest: It's happening again for December. I revamped the website, added a blog, and changed up the rules a lot. If you have the time, why not try writing up a quick short story just for kicks. There are, as always, fabulous hand-crafted prizes for the winners and feedback from actual horror fans.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

Art, Sketch, Craft, or Robert's Got A Brand New Blog

There's obviously a a writerly side to me. I wouldn't be blogging and freelancing and running short story contests and all that other stuff if there wasn't.

There's also a visual arts side to me. If the Halloween decorations don't give it away, the Etsy (very lonely, not for long) should.

This is why I'm proud to announce to opening of a brand new blog through my Typepad account: Art, Sketch, Craft. It will be the epicenter of my artistic output: ceramics, glass work, painting, clay, fabric arts, digital art, decorative work - any and all projects I do will be accounted for. There will be how-to's, concept sketches, step-by-step builds, finished projects, and more.

I'm excited to see where this takes me. The first post is already up, showing what might be the cutest piece I've ever done. This concerns me since I tend not to do cute. Exorcising Halloween demons, perhaps? I'm not sure. Tis the season to play nice, put out the cute stuff, and see what sells. It can't all be giant sea monsters lovingly detailed with dry brushing.

So feel free to swing on by and tell me what you think of the new digs. Comments are always welcome at my sketchy blogs.

Sketchy Recs: What to Do This Weekend: 6-8 November 2009

Write: Your NaNo: By the end of the day, those participating in the 2009 NaNoWriMo challenge should be at least 10,002 words into their novel. I know I'm not. This weekend is a great time to play catch-up in your free time. It's not like there are any decent movies opening wide enough to write about...

In Theaters: Except for Coco Before Chanel: Imagine, if you will, a biopic that is not about explosions in the person's life. A biopic wherein the focus is on how a person grew to become their more famous version. A biopic wherein the focus is on subtlety and nuance, and a gloriously understated performance by a wonderful young actress. Coco Before Chanel is that biopic. Sure, it's a subtle non-explosive biopic with subtitles. It's also an Audrey Tatou-starring feature that some are claiming is her best performance ever (I'm not sure how it could be better than her stellar work in A Very Long Engagement, but that's my bias popping up). 

Listen: Gutenberg! The Musical - Original Off-Broadway Cast Recording: Not all great shows get to Broadway. Not all producers are dumb enough to believe that every successful Off-Broadway/out of town engagement merits a Broadway production. Gutenberg! The Musical is most likely one of those shows that would have shuttered on opening night. It's tiny, wildly creative, funny, and a completely false recreation of Gutenberg's invention of the printing press. Who doesn't want to enjoy a raucous musical about literacy and publication?

Have a great weekend, everyone!