Monday, 5/12/97 Phish’s bassist brings same free-flowing style
to stories Gordon shows off brilliant sense of humor, talent for
improvisation
By Mike Prevatt Daily Bruin Staff Most people regard the rock
band Phish as the Grateful Dead, Generation X style. They have
enjoyed both cult status and massive popularity, especially on the
live circuit. But fans of the jam-until-you-drop band will tell you
that Phish is more than a Dead-wannabe group. They are the ultimate
improvisational band, letting their imaginations and their music go
off in unpredictable tangents, especially on the stage, which is
where they shine best. This talent for unpremeditated imagination
now can be read as well as heard. Phish bassist Mike Gordon has
just published "Mike’s Corner," a collection of 55 of the quirkiest
and most humorous short stories you’ll ever read. Giving a whole
new meaning to "stream of consciousness," Gordon allows readers a
glimpse into his extraordinary mental processes through fiction, in
which every off-the-wall thought connects one random vision after
another until you end up in the last place you could possibly
expect to land. This free-flowing brilliance is best displayed in
his longer pieces (by "longer" we mean two or three pages no bigger
than a postcard). "The Party," probably the most surreal fiesta
ever thrown, is a perfect example. Using a style of plot-making not
unlike that of Richard Linklater’s cult movie, "Slacker," Gordon
takes the first scene (Donald Grandfather’s birthday party) and
builds others upon it that are linked with the thinnest of strings.
Within four sentences or so, you are on a stoned-out literary
journey that never lets you know where you’re going next, or where
you’ll stop. Yet, in the end it comes full circle to the party
scene, and you are pleasantly out of breath. Gordon uses this
technique throughout the book, even linking different individual
stories. In "A Success Story" Gordon uses a seemingly infinite
amount of expressions for saying the accountant Artie Fitchie is
successful – such as "’Success’ has a capital ‘S’ only at the
beginning of a sentence, and I bet that sentence would include
Artie Fitchie." Three stories later we have "Regarding Fitchie,"
which uses the same style of listing alternative expressions, this
time for his happiness ("Even after viewing a sad movie, Fitchie
feels happy to have seen it"). The unconventional literary devices
don’t stop there. Character names have never been more creative or
hilarious, such as Bubblescump Bublatt ("The Second Coming") and
Mrs. Filliminasnotahedron-tetrahedron ("Suite #102"). In "Notice,
to Avoid Confusion…" Gordon gives you the most complex technique
for figuring out Daylight Savings Time, and the end offers to sell
you a new clock which does it automatically, but for a price you
couldn’t possibly figure out. "Bess" is a short story with two tiny
chapters; at the end of each are textbook-like questions such as
"Compare and contrast every letter of the story with every other
letter." His unpredictable articulations and offbeat humor are
reminiscent of a range of sources, from comedian Stephen Wright and
"Deep Thoughts" from "Saturday Night Live," to even Beavis and
Butt-head. Figuring out what Gordon will say next is impossible,
but when you find out, it’s undeniably funny. The most remarkable
thing about "Mike’s Corner" is that every story is distinct in its
own style and randomness. No two are really alike, unless it is to
be purposely funny or silly, like in the case of the Artie Fitchie
"series." From instructional pieces (his "A Guide to Writing" is
essential for anyone inspired to be just as eccentric) and poems to
book reviews and mysteries, Gordon’s pieces not only cover the
spectrum of short story styles, but also go beyond that to other
dimensions and universes where the unfathomable becomes reality.
"Mike’s Corner," quite simply, is damn-near ingenious. Gordon has a
knack for blitzkrieg diction that seems to have gone awry, but it
remains obvious in the end that he hasn’t lost control. Most
impressively, his improvisational writing skills display a type of
demented prose that leave us hungry for the next sentence, let
alone the next story. Gordon’s authenticity will no doubt amaze and
amuse readers, as well as inspire dozens of new eccentric
writers.