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The Devil You Know They'll still be satisfied with the more
fantastic fiction here. "The Ocean," is a fable that goes back to Brite's youthful infatuation with
rock-gods and combines a faint echo of Tennessee Williams' Suddenly Last Summer with the Greek
mythological theme of Maenads. Title story, "The Devil You Know," was first published in Imagination
Fully Dilated Volume II, and based on the art of Alan M. Clark (which, in turn, is used for the cover of this collection). In it Brite ties the Devil, his
cat, and the racism of New Orleans' Mardi Gras krewes together. "Lantern Marsh," was appropriately
spooky for its first publication in the Halloween-themed October Dreams. "Pansu" is a delightfully
weird demonic possession story set in a Korean restaurant in Los Angeles. There are also two tales
set in fictional worlds created by others. "Burb, Baby, Burn" takes Mike Mignola's Hellboy
character firestarter Liz Sherman back to her poignant beginnings. The interesting but odd "System
Freeze" belongs in the film universe of The Matrix.
Brite's current preoccupation is, she's said,
with "writing honestly about New Orleans, which I suppose you could say is a subculture in and of
itself, made up of various sub-subcultures of race, class, occupation and such. But I think I'm
writing about much more 'ordinary' people than I have before...Many of my characters are still gay
-- which for me is rather like saying 'many of my characters are still breathing' -- but they're
just regular folks..." There are a trio of stories on the "ordinary" branch of her
crossroads-collection. The regular folks gay couples in them are more oriented toward the
subculture of restaurants than any other. "Nothing of Him That Doth Fade" is a gloomy, yet somehow
heartening existential love story. A character in "Bayou de la Mère" has lost his faith and still
bears the scars of religion. A young man finds his place, rather amiably, in the world in "A Season
in Heck." (John) Rickey and G-man (Gary Stubbs) appear in both these last two stories. A long-time
gay couple, they are chefs who co-own a New Orleans restaurant and are the main characters in Brite
upcoming (2004) novel Liquor. Their younger years are featured in The Value of X, a short novel
recently published by Subterranean Press.
Four stories make up a third tangent. The protagonist
here is Dr. Brite, the coroner of Orleans Parish. The author's self-confessed alter-ego, Dr. Brite,
loves to eat fine cuisine. Dr. Brite's twin passions, food and forensic pathology, coalesce
somewhere just outside the commonplace. "Poivre" is an M.F.K. Fisher-type meditation on a
restaurant rather than a story. "Oh Death, Where Is Thy Spatula?" is a remarkable combination of
character, giggles, chills, and voudon. "Marisol," is a revenge story of sorts with an ending few
coroners would approve of. The most experimental of the stories is "The Heart of New Orleans". It
comes closest to the model of John Kennedy Toole's A Confederacy of Dunces, a standard the writer
has stated she wishes she could equal. The wry and loving look at New Orleanians is there and some
of the humor. But Dr. Brite is not an Ignatius J. Riley. Her sadness is not cloaked with ego and
verbosity. She's also a character who deserves further exploration in the future.
Even the most
"normal" of the stories here are still slightly skewed from conventional culture. She may have a
new direction, but The Devil You Know also reaffirms Brite as a writer with instinct and unique
perspective -- and one well worth reading. ("Waves of Fear"Cemetery Dance #43)
Copyright © 2003 Paula Guran. All Rights Reserved. |
Poppy Z. Brite is gaining maturity as a writer and you can't help but wonder where she will be
in another twenty years or so when she's Harrison's age. Right now, with this third collection of
short stories she's at a crossroads and that is a dangerous place to be. As bluesman Robert Johnson
wrote, "Standin' at the crossroads, tried to flag a ride.../ Didn't nobody seem to know me,
everybody pass me by" -- there's always the chance that a new path will leave you less noticeable
than before. Those who identify Brite only as a goth vampire queen or empress of extreme have
always underestimated her talents, but they did buy books.