Theme and Technique in Steve Erickson's Fiction

Theme and Technique in Steve Erickson’s Fiction Thesis submitted in accordance with the requirements of the University of Liverpool for the Degree of Doctor in Philosophy by Liam Randles (Student Number: 200427356) January 2019 1 A number of the arguments that I have made in Chapters 4 and 5 concerning Erickson’s fifth novel Amnesiascope (1996) have been published in an article titled ‘‘Post-Los Angeles: The Conceptual City in Steve Erickson’s Amnesiascope’ for the summer edition University of Malta’s Antae journal. ‘‘Post-Los Angeles: The Conceptual City in Steve Erickson’s Amnesiascope’ Liam Randles Antae, Volume 5, No. 2 (June 2018), pp.138-153. 2 This thesis is dedicated to my parents, my sister, my girlfriend Katie, and Isla Harrison. Thank you for all the love, support and encouragement. 3 Contents Abstract 6 The Literary Works of Steve Erickson 7 Introduction 8 Chapter 1: Erickson as a Writer 19 Early Life and Interests (19) Literary Influences (26) Classifying Erickson: Issues and Problems (32) Classifying Erickson: Postmodern Contexts (34) Summary: Interests, Influences and Classification (43) Chapter 2: Endings and Temporal Distortion 45 Erickson’s Los Angeles: Literary and Social Contexts (45) Permutations of Time and Forms of Endings (55) Historic, Social and Cultural Endings (62) Summary: Endings in Erickson’s Fiction (71) Chapter 3: Documenting America 73 Deconstructing American National Identity and Rubicon Beach (73) Symbols of American Paradoxes and Presidential Personas: Leap Year (80) Politics and Popular Culture Intertwining: Mapping America in American Nomad (88) Shadowbahn and Twenty-First Century America (95) Summary: Erickson on America (103) 4 Chapter 4: Memory, Dreams, and Desire: Film and The Act of Viewing in Erickson’s Fiction 105 The Psychology of Viewing: An Overview (105) Adolphe Sarre and Ways of Seeing: Days Between Stations (108) ‘The Cinema of Hysteria’: Amnesiascope (117) Personal Viewings: Zeroville (127) Summary: Viewing in Erickson’s Fiction (135) Chapter 5: Strange Geographies and the Displaced Self: Erickson’s Pyschotopographies 137 Establishing Psychotopography: Interpretation of Changing Landscapes (137) Exploring Psychotopography: Development and Theory (140) Love, Trauma and Strange Conditions: Days Between Stations (147) ‘Post-Los Angeles’: Amnesiascope (157) Summary: Erickson’s Psychotopographies (165) Conclusion 167 Appendices 171 Appendix 1: Erickson’s Awards and Accolades (171) Appendix 2: Steve Erickson’s ‘Essential Movie Library’ (172) Appendix 3: ‘L.A.’s 100 Most Iconic Songs’ by Steve Erickson (175) Bibliography 178 5 Abstract The aim of this thesis is to explore the different narrative techniques used in Steve Erickson’s fiction and thereby to rectify the critical neglect of his works. Despite being acclaimed by a number of esteemed contemporaries such as Jonathan Lethem and Thomas Pynchon, as well as being the recipient of several prestigious literary awards, the paucity of critical works relating to him remains something of a mystery. A notable contrast emerges in this respect, in the fact that Erickson has given a significant number of interviews to a wide-range of publications since the release of his debut novel Days Between Stations (1985). This would suggest that there is wider interest in Erickson’s literature, despite the fact that this has failed to translate into comprehensive critical examination of his work. This thesis will analyse the different experimental techniques and methods used in Erickson’s novels. A stylistically-arresting writer whose work often blurs the boundaries of different genre forms, Erickson’s interests lie in four particular areas: depictions of endings, the development of the American national consciousness, representations of the process of film, and the implicit relationship between character and setting. Themes recurrent throughout Erickson’s work—such as the fallibility of memory and the changeable state of interpersonal relationships—are often channelled through these interests, resulting in literature of distinctive, challenging nature. Erickson’s background and media influences will be explored in order to assess how his creative conceptions have been shaped. Having both a personal and professional interest in film through his secondary career as a journalist, Erickson’s fascination with the medium representing an affecting experience will be discussed. A notable result of this influence is the presence of different film techniques used to frame and structure his narrative. Erickson’s numerous past interviews and his two non-fiction books, Leap Year (1989) and American Nomad (1997), will be drawn upon in order to identify a number of recurring preoccupations. Attempts will also be made to locate Erickson in both a postmodern context and in a literary tradition associative of his home city of Los Angeles for purposes of directing future criticism in potentially intriguing directions. Through identification of the themes and techniques in Erickson’s novels, this thesis will argue that he is a writer worthy of rigorous critical study. 6 The Literary Works of Steve Erickson Fiction Days Between Stations (1985) Rubicon Beach (1986) Tours of the Black Clock (1989) Arc d’X (1993) Amnesiascope (1996) The Sea Came in at Midnight (1999) Our Ecstatic Days (2005) Zeroville (2007) These Dreams of You (2012) Shadowbahn (2017) Non-Fiction Leap Year (1989) American Nomad (1997) 7 Introduction The intention of this thesis is to redress the paucity of critical material available concerning the literature of Steve Erickson. A stylistically-challenging and thematically-complex writer, Erickson’s work has received numerous accolades and consistently garnered praise from his contemporaries. In his appraisal of Erickson’s most recent novel, Shadowbahn (2017), Jonathan Lethem described him as ‘not so much a writer’s writer as a tour-de-forcer’s tour- de-forcer.’1 The late David Foster Wallace once viewed him as among ‘the cream of the country’s younger crop’ of fiction writers, alongside Joanna Scott, Richard Powers, and Denis Johnson.2 Thomas Pynchon has similarly been effusive in his praise, providing blurbs for Erickson’s debut novel Days Between Stations (1985) and Arc d’X (1993). Writing of Days, Pynchon asserts that Erickson possesses ‘that rare and luminous gift for reporting back from the nocturnal side of reality’; signifying Erickson’s fascination with altered states and literary experimentation.3 Arc d’X, meanwhile, is described as ‘classic Erickson’; that the novel represents a text as ‘daring, crazy, and passionate as any American writing since the Declaration of Independence’.4 Although Pynchon’s appraisal of Arc d’X can be deemed somewhat hyperbolic, the esteem Erickson’s work is held in by his peers is undeniable. That this has failed to transmit into consistent critical analysis remains mystifying. Detailed papers from scholars such as Alexandru Budac and Lee Spinks—to name but two—that examine certain tropes associated with Erickson’s texts are in existence, but these remain very much the exception. This is in contrast to the significant number of interviews that Erickson has given over the years to an array of magazines, websites and literary journals that suggests of wider interest in his work. Although Erickson can sometimes appear vague during these in relation to textual interpretation, a number of intriguing recurrences concerning early inspirations and childhood experiences are discussed that seem to have influenced his style as a writer. Similarly, his reflections on pop culture developments—particularly in relation to film—and American politics make for interesting reading. Erickson’s observations in these fields are often used as subjects in a number of his texts. A selective approach will therefore be undertaken with regard to determining the relevance of a specific issue highlighted or discussed by Erickson during these interviews. Erickson’s name has been conspicuous by its absence, even in a context of discussion of the Los Angeles literary milieu of the late-twentieth and early-twenty-first centuries. This is despite a large number of his works containing themes and tropes that can be viewed as being typical of the Los Angeles novel. One such rare occurrence of Erickson being grouped alongside other writers associated with the city comes in the updated foreword to Reyner 1 Jonathan Lethem, ‘Best Book of 2017: Shadowbahn’, Granta (December 2015). <https://granta.com/best- book-20-shadowbahn/>. [Accessed 7th August, 2018]. 2 Stacey Schmeidel, ‘Brief Interview with a Five Man Draft’, Amherst (Spring 1999). <https://www.amherst.edu/amherst-story/magazine/extra/node/66410>. [Accessed 7th August, 2018]. 3 Steve Erickson, Days Between Stations (New York: Simon & Schuster Paperbacks, 2005), front cover. Henceforth cited in-text as (DBS, page number). 4 Steve Erickson, Arc d’X (New York: Henry Holt and Company, 1993), front cover. Henceforth cited in-text as (AX, page number). 8 Banham’s Los Angeles: The Architecture of Four Ecologies (1971); a book that examines on the distinct and disparate make-up of Los Angeles. Here, Joe Day groups Erickson alongside Bruce Wagner, Bret Easton Ellis and James Ellroy as notable examples of writers whose preoccupations lie in distorting certain cultural and environmental facets of the city into evocative ‘kaleidoscopic vortices’.5 Although Day’s analysis here is brief and—at best— cursory, it at least serves to shed light on Erickson’s modus operandi as a writer. As will become evident

Load more