The BS Index

Man, that was a rugged love tap from Mr. Smith regarding The Long Embrace, eh? (That’s a Canadian bit ’cause Kevin’s from the Great North.) In the spirit of full disclosure, I should mention that I spoke at Judith Freeman’s class at the University of Southern California just as her book was published, and naturally the subject of Raymond Chandler came up as we talked about Los Angeles as it’s been interpreted in mystery novels and films. That said, I do look forward to reading The Long Embrace, as I too share some of those questions about Mr. Chandler and how his lifestyle--his approach to life, more accurately--affected and was reflected in his work. But if everything were known about Chandler, he wouldn’t be in the pantheon, I guess. I think for me, like Jim Thompson, I’m just gonna invent portions of my biography and let somebody else sort it out when I’m gone. I’ll also throw in some influence from Baron Munchausen, and recount in vivid detail how I wrote one of my novels while floating inside a giant catfish, then he spit me out, after which I had to wrestle mutant gators, and so on.

Speaking of bullshit brings me back to the subject of politics, American style. I haven’t been involved in national campaigns, but I have worked on local races for, say, the mayoralty, city council positions, and some California State Assembly offices. The range of people who are attracted to politics as a line of work would fill a psychoanalyst’s waiting room. You have not only those who choose to run for office for various conflicting reasons of ego versus service, but also the people you hardly hear about--the spinmeisters, the campaign hacks, and the idealists and the ideologues who brief the candidates, help write speeches, craft the mailings, oversee the canvassers and volunteers, prep the candidates, keep them on task, and tell them when they’re straying off message. It’s a fascinating assortment of types and personalities, with their lives very segmented from their in-the-field personas--perfect for a storyteller in search of quirky characters.

For my new serial novel in The Nation, Citizen Kang, I’m drawing on my personal experience as well as the endless news cycle of CNN, MSNBC, National Public Radio, Radio BBC, KPFK Pacifica Radio, and other sources to feed the beast. Aspects of Congresswoman Cynthia Kang’s character--along with the characters of her chief of staff, Chet Kimbrough, LAPD Detective Second Grade Desdemona Valdez, and others--will be revealed little by little in each weekly installment as the mystery deepens and events bombard my girl.

What I’ve noticed is common among most politicians, be they local, state, or national office holders, is a high level of drive and energy. How the hell did Fred Thompson ever think that getting to the presidency would be a cakewalk? Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama, Mike Huckabee, and John McCain are getting by on fumes at this point. Talk about sleep deprivation at Gitmo. But the candidates have no choice--it’s part of their business. Or take my mayor, Antonio Villaraigosa. Yeah, I know he had a girlfriend on the side and that takes work, but she’s left him, the wife’s left him, and yet this cat still is going from dawn to dusk at meetings, dedications, budget hearings, encounters with angry constituents, and on and on. You gotta want to be in elected office. You gotta want it damn near as bad as air itself. It’s the stuff that keeps you going. And though I’ve so far presented Kang as somewhat laid-back, that fanatically committed part of her will become more apparent as matters develop. Trust me, as they say in politics.

Oh, and finally, the contest to give my man Magrady a first name continues, Stalwart Ones.