About the Author by John Colapinto
About the Author
by John Colapinto
HarperCollins, July 2001
272 Pages
When struggling writer Cal Cunningham discovers that his roommate Stewart has been collecting the stories of Cal’s one-night stands and has complied them in novel form, he decides the only thing to do would be to confront him. But before he is able to do so, Stewart is killed in a traffic accident and Cal is left holding a novel based on himself which is quite good. Without batting an eye, he claims the work as his own and becomes an instant literary success. But with fame and fortune comes public scrutiny. When one of Cal’s former one-night stands returns claiming she has proof that he stole Stewart’s novel, she begins blackmailing him and threatens to ruin the quiet life he has established in the country with his new wife.
I honestly can’t remember when, where, or why I purchased this book. It might have just appeared on my bookshelf in the middle of the night. I’m glad it did, this was a very enjoyable book. While not entirely deep or complex, it’s a very compelling pseudo-thriller. I say pseudo-thriller because this is one of those books where you know what is going to happen next. It’s akin to watching a horror movie and screaming at the screen, “Don’t go in to basement to investigate that strange sound especially since the power just went out!”. But like with movies, Cal doesn’t listen to the screaming reader and goes about doing what you know he shouldn’t.
Near the end of the books, as the last pieces start to fall in to place, Cal and his agent have a conversation about the latest book his agent thinks Cal is writing. Cal tells him the story of an aspiring writer who steals his roommate’s novel and then gets blackmailed by a former one-night stand. Somehow the story had folded in on itself and become meta-fiction. They novel these two characters are talking about is the one I was holding in my hands.
Meta-fiction as a whole is a tricky thing to handle. It immediately pulls the reader out of the story and reminds them that they are reading a book. Some books you just get so wrapped up in and they are impossible to put down. But by referencing the the book you’re reading has the exact opposite effect in my opinion. It reminds you that in your hands you’re holding a pile of paper with words on it. This, more often than not, is a bad thing. But in the case of About the Author
Having said all that, I did enjoy this book. It’s a pseudo-thriller/mystery which suited me just right. It never took itself too seriously and as much as I hate to admit, yelling at the characters on the screen/page right before they go down in to that dark basement is part of the fun of the genre.
John Colainto has another book out called As Nature Made Him: The Boy Who Was Raised as a Girl
September 20th, 2011 at 9:44 am
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