WTF indeed, is your
first reaction when you start reading David David Katzman”s novel “Death by
Zamboni”. But WTF is not a bad brain-jerk when you read a piece of nonsense or
absurd fiction, for that’s what “Death by Zamboni” really is: Nonsense fiction.
D.D Katzman first
novel rubs covers with the writings of the likes of Antonin Artaud, Raymond
Queneau and even Guillaume Appolinaire on the bookshelves of the Absurd.
Nonsense fiction has a
long tradition in literature. Since Lewis Carol’s Victorian “hunting of the
Snark” to the more modern “Faustroll” by Jarry,
Artaud’s “Momo” and the “African travels” by Raymond Roussel, writers
have entertained their readers with the nonsensical and absurd. Those books are
both funny and serious for they remind us how absurd their models are and hence
how absurd real life can be.
But “Death by
Zamboni” is not just another example of
a literary category. It stands out in a way too. It stands out because it has
been written today, not fifty or more years ago and that at least we have a
better appreciation of the “referring reality” against which we have to
“understand” the content of the book.
For the frame or the
core of “Death by Zamboni” is in fact solid Ur – American comic and movie
stuff. A private investigator reminding
us of Mike Hammer or Sam Spade is asked by a woman to find back her husband who
has mysteriously disappeared. But Katzman’s take on the subject is more alike
to Zemeckis’ “Who framed Roger Rabbit” than to the pulp of Spillane or Hamett.
“Death by Zamboni” is
in fact a blow –up of the daily bullshit we are force-fed by television and
magazines. Katzman turns all the
exaggerations a few notches higher. The gap between the writings of Katzman and
our daily fodder of fiction is as big as the gap between this fiction and real
life
While pulp detective
stories are hard-boiled and cynical, Katzman’s novel is highly entertaining and
you really woosh through its 200 or so pages. Zamboni surprises you literally
on every page with countless narrative twists and turns, wicked wordplays,
graphic “trouvailles”, juicy jokes, absurd point of views and crazy
conclusions. The puns vary from the vulgar to the highbrow ( Molly Bloom and
Gregor Samsa peep up between the lines at a certain moment ), the jokes make
you laugh out loud or grinning mischievously as when the detective refuses a
blowjob from a women named Vagina Dentata.
Great fun all along
the wild roller –coaster ride !
So, instead of picking
up the next dusty classic from the canon of the absurd, why not give this
Zamboni a shot. You won’t be disappointed, It is highly entertaining, more
actual and hence more to the point. Death by Zamboni has the potential to grow
into a cult object or to remain a curiosity.
It will all depend on the Katzman’s Karma.
