Jay Cantor: C/D

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From a site that I edit, it sez this about Jay Cantor:

"From Jay Cantor, the much-praised author of Krazy Kat and The Death of Che Guevara, comes Great Neck, the tumultuous story of a group of friends growing up idealistic, radical, and romantic in the 1960's. This new novel is a multi- layered, polyrhythmic, pulsing, sustained explosion of talent where history, fantasy, comedy and social reality are effortlessly blended. Think Gass, Gaddis and Pynchon."

I've never heard of the chap -- any good?

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 14 February 2003 07:19 (twenty-three years ago)

The point of interest of course being the comparison to Pynchon.

― Leee (Leee), Friday, 14 February 2003 07:26 (twenty-three years ago)

I always wondered what happened to him. Krazy Kat is one strange novel: it's not really at all in the spirit of the comic strip (he makes Krazy a GIRL! this is so wrong!) but it's weird and entertaining. I don't think it was much like Pynchon, but I read it before I'd even HEARD of Pynchon, I think. Haven't read his Che Guevara book.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 14 February 2003 10:28 (twenty-three years ago)

Oh I really liked Krazy Kat. It is kind of filthy. It's in the very rough relational framework of the comic but very Freudian. Ignatz is Krazy's therapist and Officer Pupp is Ignatz' supervisor.

Thanks for the news that Great Neck is out. I will check it out.

― felicity (felicity), Friday, 14 February 2003 13:57 (twenty-three years ago)

Krazy was female in the comic strip quite a lot of the time, Justyn - it varied from one strip to the next. I've not counted references, but if it's the minority, it's a big minority.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:26 (twenty-three years ago)

The Cantor Krazy nov - which I have skim-flicked a cpl of times - seemed rather ponderous po-mo stuff - the kind of thing Donald Barthelme cld pull off in a few pages needlessly padded out to full bk length. There's a similar Tintin nov written round abt the same time by some Euro geezer.

Joseph Torchia's 'The Kryptonite Kid' also did the same kind of stuff w/ Superman, a comic bk 'myth' that somehow feels a lot less 'complete' - or open to play - than Herriman's self-contained/self-aware world (or, the old readerly vs. writerly text biz)

― Andrew L (Andrew L), Friday, 14 February 2003 21:34 (twenty-three years ago)

really, Martin? I always thought of Krazy as totally androgynous, but I can't remember an instance of him/her/it not being referred to as "Mr Krazy Kat." In retrospect it's odd that Herriman got away with that for thirty-odd years, considering the point of the strip was his/her/its attraction to the very male Ignatz Mouse.

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Friday, 14 February 2003 22:29 (twenty-three years ago)

Krazy is specifically referenced as one sex or the other on many occasions, throughout its years.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 15 February 2003 00:07 (twenty-three years ago)

I liked the Krazy Kat novel to about the halfway point. Then it seemed to drop the interesting nuke thing to focus on everyone having as much sex as possible, which I found boring.

― Dave Fischer, Saturday, 15 February 2003 00:31 (twenty-three years ago)

You're right, it is filthy. I dunno, maybe you have to be a Herriman fan to find it interesting.

― felicity (felicity), Saturday, 15 February 2003 00:38 (twenty-three years ago)

weren't you writing an article or something on KK a while ago, Martin? did that ever get published?

― Justyn Dillingham (Justyn Dillingham), Saturday, 15 February 2003 01:11 (twenty-three years ago)

No, I never did get around to it. I still have the stack of material at hand, but it's still just notes I'm afraid. No chance of that changing in the immediate future either, for all kinds of reasons.

― Martin Skidmore (Martin Skidmore), Saturday, 15 February 2003 11:29 (twenty-three years ago)

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