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Standaert on Standaert How and (maybe more importantly why) did Michael Standaert create the freakish world of Pisco the hapless rodent exterminator? Because only he really knows, and because the Paris Review isn't calling, we figured we'd let him ask himself...
The Adventures of the
Pisco Kid
Standaert: Did you ever feel that you should try heroin, in connection with writing a book about users?
Standaert: Now that's a strange question. I haven't thought about writing a book about heroin users, but now that you mention it this doesn't sound like a bad idea. I mean, trying the heroin that is. As for writing a book about heroin users, not really my thing. If I tried heroin though, maybe I could write about myself. But you know, I've tried many other things and haven't really written about those, so I don't know how interesting it would be. "Mike shoots up. Mike gets euphoric. Mike comes down and smokes fifty cigarettes. Mike passes out. Mike shoots up again." Kind of repetitive, don't you think? Writing a book about taking a shit might be more interesting. Speaking of which, you haven't asked about my book.
Standaert: Have you any sympathy with those who most uncompromisingly pursue their own free idea whatever the opposition?
Standaert: What's with these pretentious questions you keep asking me? Don't you want to find out about my novel? To answer though, I think it depends. Should I have sympathy for fanatics? Maybe that's what they need. I don't know. Do I have sympathy for someone who spends their life crafting what they believe is right in the face of opposition all around? I think I would have to find out if this pursuit has ruined or changed any other lives.
Standaert: Do you think a reader unacquainted with [African-American] folklore can properly understand your work?
Standaert: I don't think there's much African American folklore in my book, though there are many references to general American folklore, which includes African, Latino, Anglo, Native American and any other homo sapien myth that feeds into a the general American mythos … that is to say I tried to tap into, as well as satirize about, the idea of American exceptionalism … anything from the fetish of Alexis de Tocqueville, to the "Shining City on the Hill" to our imbedded messianic tendencies, the thousand points of light, democracy spreading, and all that. When I wrote the book, toward the end of 2002 and into early 2003, it seemed like the whole boat was rowing off to this promised land with Bush at the bow. Most of us can now see this was an utter disaster. So in a sense writing the book was a reaction against that tendency in America to want to "save the world." Half the time while you are trying to save it you're also destroying it. We can certainly be happy that we've liberated so many Iraqis from the bonds of earthly life, can't we? How's Stalin's saying go? The death of one man is a tragedy, the death of a thousand is a statistic? All in the name of spreading freedom and democracy … that's my pretentious answer.
Standaert: Then you don't draw your characters from life?
Standaert: Don't you get tired of asking these questions? I draw my characters from whatever source they come from. Isn't it obvious that most writers don't draw their characters directly from life? You might take a little bit from here, a little from there, but after a while the characters have to come to life on their own. Otherwise it's reportage. I heard Rushdie speak a few years ago, saying something about how reality is so strange that those attempting to remake reality into a 'realist' literature are in fact creating a fantastic literature, creating a 'real' life that doesn't exist. So you take a bit from life, you may take a bit from other books you've read, from music you've listened to, from art you've seen, from emotions, impressions, sudden impulses. I came up with the idea for many characters in the book from reading an essay about how sometimes characters are always depicted in a certain way in movies and books … that fat people are happy-go-lucky, that gay people are always nice, that old people are always wise, and on and on, so I played with those stereotypes a bit and what I wanted to show was both how absurd those stereotypes are as well as the ones I accentuated are. So these characters were placed inside this general story line about Pisco, a rodent exterminator, a young man adopted by a Jamaican immigrant woman who has gotten a heavy dose of old time religion and believes Pisco (she names him Moses) should be some sort of messiah. So these characters are kind of a backdrop for Pisco's adventures. It's a satire on them, on him, on his mother, on you, on us, on me.
Standaert: In a New York Times review, Josh Greenfield says that you seem to write with the conviction that the world is winless. Do you agree with this?
Standaert: Pisco was reviewed in the New York Times? This is the first I've heard. That's wonderful. How come my Amazon ranking hasn't budged then? Has the Old Gray Lady gone that far down the tubes? As to the winless question … it is certainly winless. There is no hope. Jump ship while you can and take as many bastards down with you. I'm really stretching this a bit because I don't think it really matters whether it is winless or not. There's a phrase we hear over here in China a lot about the 'win-win' situation or a 'harmonious society' … both which are ultimately unachievable goals. It reminds me a bit of what I was poking fun at in Pisco, and I think there is an underlying monotheistic messianic ideal in Communism that has been its fundamental mistake as well, the mistake of most grand idealisms, religious or secular. Maybe it's high time for a satire on China. I have a Chinese name now, so perhaps I could write under that.
Standaert: Is there an ideal audience that you write for?
Standaert: I don't think there is any one ideal audience. Maybe the guy that knows the world is winless and wants to laugh at the hopelessness of the fact. There's a general tragedy in that. Communication is so difficult as it is between any two people. If I connect with one person, that's fine with me. If I connect with ten-thousand, so much the better for my statistics. Hey, that reminds me of something Stalin said …
Standaert: Do you have any warm-up exercises to get going?
Standaert: Isn't that the type of silly question best saved for a Q & A at a literary reading? In short, no. I like to listen to music. Anything on my Pandora radio mix. Smoking was usually involved, and coffee, but I've tried to give those up.
Standaert: Having left America as you have, do you think of the move as a political gesture, a cutting off of national affiliation?
Standaert: Moving to China a political decision? I certainly don't have any sympathy for Communism, if that's what you're asking. I moved here purely for economic and artistic reasons. First off, we couldn't save a dime in California. In Beijing we can rent a three-bedroom for about $500 per month. In Palo Alto, a one-bedroom place cost us $1200. My salary here can support both my wife and myself, and whatever she makes we can bank away. We'll probably eventually settle in Canada because she's Canadian by birth and has citizenship there, so we can have the benefits of the health care system in Canada. I mention artistic reasons too since the job I have here isn't very demanding and I have a lot of free time during the workday to write. I'm actually conducting this interview at work now and listening to a Cubs game while I do it. You have to love the Internet… I can sit at work on a Wednesday morning, listening to a Tuesday night ( U.S.) Cubs game while I poorly edit poorly written stories translated from Chinese and interview myself. I'm attempting a vigorous pursuit of happiness, wherever that may be. How much more American could I get?
Standaert: Where do you go from here?
Standaert: To lunch, of course. We get a nice two hour break here, which is one good thing to say about socialism.
The Adventures of the
Pisco Kid |
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