I Just Read About That…

SOUNDTRACK: Ô PAON-“Courses” (2010).

This album, Sainte Patronne De Rien Pantoutemade ranked #7 on Viking’s Top Ten list and it is very different from the other albums on the list.

This is a simple song with a gentle guitar motif repeated over and over.  There also appears to be some looped vocals.  The singer, Geneviéve Castrée, sings in Quebecois-French and is assisted by Godspeed You Black Emperor mainstay Thierry Amar.

As with many of the songs on this list, the song builds and builds as it repeats itself.  But unlike the other songs, this one never grows menacing or dark.  Rather, it builds, layer upon layer of instrument or voice until the song (whatever it’s about) reaches its climax.

Viking says that there are English liner notes on the disc, but you ‘ll have to buy the disc to get them.  I liked this track more with each listen, and would like to hear more from her.

[READ: January 4, 2011] “Costello”

This is a story of perseverance.  Costello is a middle-aged man with two kids.  When the story opens, we see him floating on a raft in his pool. The pool is overgrown with grossness and, down in the filter, there is a dead lizard.  But Costello seems, if not exactly content, then at least not unhappy.  He has everything he needs nearby: a newspaper, a Zippo and smokes.

Costello is a plumbing salesman, and he has been nominated as salesman of the year (you can read about it in Pipeline!).  It’s pretty much the only exciting news he’s received recently, especially since his beloved Dodgers are middling at best.  Although even he likes being able to watch the Disney fireworks from his roof.

Costello seems like a decent guy.  He also seems liked by others: his coworkers like him, his neighbor likes him (although Costello hasn’t accepted a dinner invitation from him in almost a year).  Through the course of the story we wonder why his wife isn’t there with him.  The answer to this is revealed slowly throughout the story.

The story proceeds through a number of scenes, the most amusing of which is the annual W.C.P.A. Best Ball Extravaganza.  This is the party where the salesman of the year award will be announced. And it is an opportunity for plumbers around California to come and get hammered during the afternoon, which they do.

As more details come out, and we hear from his daughters, and we see him at the golf course, it solidifies our impression of Costello: a decent, rather unexceptional guy–even his co-worker’s laudatory speech about him mostly comes down to “he showed up.”

It’s funny to have a short story in which the main character doesn’t really change.  It almost seems like the actions of the last few days have confirmed his life choices.  Although by the end there is a hint of change in the making.

It seemed surprising to read a story about a very average guy.  There’s nothing exceptional about him, and that actually makes the story more compelling.

This is my first story by Jim Gavin, and it gets a thumbs up.