Bird notes the chauvinistic and solipsistic elements of the Beat scene and in some ways, her commentary, affecting cool and deconstructive tones, mirrors the criticism of today which is much more aware and concerned with systems of power, exclusion, and oppression.
Moore playfully tries to summarize the topic’s social scene in a comprehensive way (something he’s often done before – we don’t have to look further than the previous story in this very collection for example) while trying to represent opposing points of view. Being on the same page as the poem and in some cases, crowding out the poem itself, the annotations are a commentary in counterpoint to the poem.
The use of annotations here are very different than, say, those in From Hell. It is also perhaps worth noting that Foster Wallace committed suicide. He has also professed an admiration in interviews for the writings of David Foster Wallace, Wallace’s erudition and ambition as a writer and his use of footnotes. Given some of Moore’s counterculture leanings and interests, it’s not surprising that he has an extensive knowledge of Beat culture, history, and writing. In his acknowledgements, Moore thanks his wife Melinda Gebbie and her detailed knowledge of the San Francisco area where she lived, and Kevin Ring‘ s Beat Scene magazine for providing inspiration. What are we to make of this pastiche that comes right after the story “What We Can Know About Thunderman”, the savagely critical satire of the mainstream comics industry discussed in my last post? The influences and interests are easy enough to pinpoint and make sense of.
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