Oh hi.
Did you know my comrade in arms Ian Truman has just released his new novel A TEENAGE SUICIDE? I will be reviewing the book on Friday (the review has long been ready, just under embargo), but I wouldn't want to introduce Ian out of context. Of course, I did before when I reviewed his novel TALES OF LUST, HATE & DESPAIR (now craftily rebranded as LOW DOWN) but back then, it wasn't THE TRUMAN SHOW, on DEAD END FOLLIES.
I met Ian Truman, or should I say strived to meet him, when I learned he was another hardboiled writer from Montreal, Canada. Truth to be told, what he does it way more complicated than hardboiled. Like all the greats, his words transcend the very notion of genre. Truman writes about drifters, outsiders and the failures of the system. He also writes about alternative cultures and lifestyles. About the people you know by sight, but you have never taken the time to know personally.
I'm writing this blog post today with one thing in mind. I have just read his first publication (or first ever writing that he subsequently published, I may have the order wrong) STAGE RIGHT IN THE AFTERLIFE, a one act existential satire play. It's a rare thing, you probably won't find it unless Truman himself reprints as an extra with a future book. I believe it was a creative writing assignment in school. It's nonetheless an interesting story that reveals what kind of talent was unleashed the day Truman decided to get this baby printed.
The story is simple. A naked man walks in the afterlife, only to be received by a wall of bureaucracy. There is no floating towards the light, no cloud no.9, no wings, no naked women feeding you grapes, just a lot of paperwork to fill to identify what team you were on back on earth. Reading STAGE RIGHT IN THE AFTERLIFE and was reminded of the X-Files motto : ''The truth is out there.'' The afterlife is the ''Great Truth'' everyone is fighting for, but if it's populated with humans, why would it be so differ?
It's easy to say the truth exist when you don't have it. Ian Truman understands that and illustrated it very well in his short play that has yet to see the stage. Truman is a poet of reality, even when he writes about the happily every after. Jump in the bandwagon now, while it's not too crowded.