D.P. Watt
Weird fiction may be a relatively small subgenre but I'm learning that it is as thoroughly developed and full of mysterious alleyways and hidden treasures as any mature literature is. While it has no shortage of giants, many of whom enjoy cult-like status, weird fiction also has plenty of lesser known authors producing truly excellent work. I don't remember where I first heard about D.P. Watt or his collection of six short stories entitled Pieces for Puppets and Other Cadavers. It is inexplicably not talked about very much, but it is a prime example of the sort of treasures that weird literature is yielding these days.
First in the collection is "Dr. Dapertutto's Saturnalia," the short but chillingly effective story of a minor Soviet official trying to apprehend the person who sent him a reel of film, which in the official's eyes is a gesture that constitutes a "blatant and insolent manifestation of bourgeois decadence." What he sees when he views the film disturbs him, but not nearly as much as what he encounters when he personally attempts to apprehend the film's sender.
The second story, "Room 89," is even better than the first. In it, a stodgy conservative intellectual vacationing in a hotel on the Isle of Wight slowly comes to share the fate of his intellectual opposite, a noted political agitator who always wished "to change whole social systems which had run for centuries." This story is throughly traditional in many ways but, like "Dr. Dapertutto's Saturnalia," feels decidedly modern in the starkness of its conclusion.
Next is "The Hobby," a short piece about a once able man worn down by a series of personal tragedies. He now seeks refuge in his hobby of building doll houses, in which he becomes increasingly engrossed. This is a good story but easily my least favorite in the collection.
The fourth story, and the one I find the most difficult to understand, is "Glorious White Marble Lady." On the surface this is a tale about the acquaintance between a man putting on an amateur production of Pygmalion and a young woman who auditions for a part in it. It seems to be concerned with the transitory nature of people and events and with our attempts to lend them more permanency.
The penultimate tale was one of my favorites. Entitled "Of Those Who Follow Emile Bilonche," it is the story of a man's lifelong obsession with acquiring the works of an author by the name of Emile Bilonche.
The final story, "The Comrade" tells of a man who loses his father to a mysterious illness, only to have two men arrive on his doorstep a few days later and show him how to avoid a similar fate.
The title of this collection, and the predominance of the theater in several of the stories in it, brings to mind the work of Reggie Oliver. But Watt's work is in no way derivative of Mr. Oliver's or anyone else's. The quality of his writing is unsurpassable. He writes in erudite prose and structures his stories perfectly, both of which qualities reveal him to be a master of the English language. Without exception, the stories in Pieces for Puppets and Other Cadavers are interesting, well told, and unique. Furthermore, they are multilayered and can be read in several different ways. If you enjoy weird fiction, you owe it to yourself to read this one.
I can't find a website or any other information about D.P. Watt, save for a brief statement that his next collection, An Emporium of Automata, will eventually be released by Ex Occidente Press. I do know this, though: with this collection D.P. Watt has emerged as one of the handful of writers carrying weird fiction forward into the new millennium.
Rating: 9/10
The True First
I am about 85% sure that Pieces for Puppets and Other Cadavers was first published by InkerMen Press in 2006 as a trade paperback. The first 100 copies of this edition are signed by the author. I really wish that a hardcover version were available.
[This review was not based on a review copy]
14 comments:
Sounds fascinating. I may have to give it a try.
Here's a link to the publisher's page (as I didn't see it included in the review):
http://tinyurl.com/y9qpkqo
You are really into Weird Fiction these days, why I remember when it was all fantasy round here.
Another obscure writer to add to my burgeoning obscure writers list :-)
I also first ran into Watt on the EO website, and have been very intrigued by this title, which has earned comparisions to Ligotti and Samuels. Unfortunately it seems fairly scarce ,I've only seen it used on amazon.uk. I'll definetly continue to scout for it though.
@strantzas: thanks for posting that link. Also, you absolutely have to read this one! I don't know your tastes well enough to know if you would like it as much as I did, but as a writer of weird fiction yourself, I'm pretty confident that at the very least you wouldn't feel like you had wasted your time, even if it doesn't turn out to be your favorite.
@C.G.Leslie: yes, I really am into weird fiction these days! As I've said somewhere before, I feel like weird fiction activates parts of the brain (the subconscious?) that other fiction doesn't use as much, making it more powerful in many respects. Don't worry though, I still love the other genres just as much as I always have :)
@MayorWhitebelly: if you stay away from the inevitable price gougers out there, the book shouldn't be prohibitively expensive. Granted, you will probably pay more for it than you're accustomed to paying for a small trade paperback, but it still shouldn't cost that much. It's definitely worth reading. I hope you acquire a copy and that you enjoy it as much as I did.
That link on Amazon.co.uk appears to be direct from the publisher. And, yet, the publisher lists the book on their website for less than it sells it for through the Amazon marketplace.
Is it me, or does that seem a bit like dirty pool? The publisher cashing in on a speculators market? I certainly hope not.
I think what happened is that they initially sold two versions: a regular version for 8.95 GBP and a signed version for 14.95 GBP, but they sold out of the regular version. I could be wrong, though.
Alas, for so slim a volume, the price is still a bit too high for me.
In the interim, for those whose curiosity is piqued, a sampling from Google Books (you may discuss your feelings on the scanning of books by Google elsewhere).
Thanks for pointing out another link I failed to mention :)
I hope you find a more suitably priced copy of this one. It would be a real shame if you missed out on it.
According to the Inkermen folks, only the signed edition is still in stock; a reprint is planned, however, it won't be out for a year. I wish there was info if there's overlap with Watt's Occidente book, and if its status is secure. As it is, I just splurged on Centipede's Reggie Oliver mega-omnibus and Mark Valentine's Collected Connoisseur, and will have to hold off on orders either way now!
Both of those books will be worth it, I suspect Mayor. In any event, I'm sure we haven't heard the last from Mr. Watt.
Speak of the devil! Brand new update on the EO site on forthcoming titles, and Watt's is one of the first in line: http://www.exoccidente.com/pdf/emporium1.pdf. Every time I think I'm out, EO pulls me back in.
That is very fortuitous!
Excellent recommendation, many thanks! There is a new edition just out, in hardcover, with an additional novella that is also quite good although it is a bit chaotic in places.
I'm planning on getting this new edition myself as soon as I get paid again :)
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