Back of the book blurb: While a Marine Corps corporal acts as a liaison between an island nation and the U.S. Army, his story is hijacked by a displaced narrator seeking a suspected criminal. The disruption causes the characters to become aware of their role in a novel, even rebelling against the author’s intent, in this layered, metafictional journey.
She is Too Fond of Books’ thoughts: First, let me explain the structure of this review, which is being co-written by Jessi at Casual Dread and myself: we signed up for the “try something different” mini-challenge hosted by Nymeth at Things Mean a Lot as part of the year-long Dewey’s Books challenge. For this mini-challenge we were encouraged to step outside out comfort zones and try something new. I was partnered with Jessi and suggested Drawers & Booths which had been sent to me by the author. We decided to read it, write separate reviews, then annotate each other’s reviews with our comments? Sound confusing? Like the book itself, I hope it becomes more clear as you read on! My thoughts are in black, Jessi’s comments are in red:
What is metafiction? I’m glad you asked, because I have one answer here, courtesy of wikipedia:
… a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction. It is the literary term describing fictional writing that self-consciously and systematically draws attention to its status as an artifact in posing questions about the relationship between fiction and reality, usually, irony and self-reflection.
Examples given include a cartoon within a cartoon (“The Itchy and Scratchy Show” within “The Simpsons”), a novel about a writer creating a story (Atonement, The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time), a novel in which the author exposes himself as an author creating the story being read (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), and others. I wonder if the mock-umentary style of the TV show “The Office” qualifies (anyone know?). I’m pretty sure “The Office” counts, but the best example I got in college was the movie Stranger Than Fiction (which I love!).
Back to the novel … Drawers & Booths starts out with the framework of the (unnamed) corporal who is given the position of “civil affairs” officer at the Army camp. These first six chapters were fairly short, but I’ll admit I had a hard time following the plot at times; there were many unnamed characters, and several military-style acronyms and abbreviations were used. I’m glad I wasn’t the only one who struggled with the frame story. I couldn’t keep the acronyms straight! As I progressed in the novel I realized that this is probably an intentional device used by the author. I never even considered that…do you think he did it to purposely turn people off from his novel? I just figured that he started the novel as a “write what you know” sort of exercise, and it mutated from there. I think he was playing with us 
The real fun begins in Chapter Seven, when the “displaced narrator” is introduced and the novel segues into a first-person narrative told in present tense. One of characters shouts “the readers are gonna immediately realize something is wrong!” That reminds me: did the other title (“Displaced People”) being on the page instead of the cover title bother you? Because it drove me crazy until it was explained…at the end of the book. Yes, Jessi, it did! I even looked back to the front and back covers, to make sure I wasn’t reading an ARC in progress!
We’re then taken on a wild ride between the original story and the “real” (or is it?) story being told by Hattie Shore, the displaced narrator. Along the way we’re treated to an examination of the question of predestination versus free-will, with a heavy-hitting comparison of an author’s craft to the hand of God.
Ara 13 peppers his prose with italicized phrases and words; I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a pattern to these, as they didn’t seem to be italicized merely for emphasis. They might all be simple catch phrases (elevator spiel, people-of-influence, pissing match, shock and awe, etc.), but I can’t help but wonder if there’s something more to it … I didn’t pick up on that, sadly, but _think outside the box_ was another italicized phrase that could have some significance to it.
Favorite quotes? There were a few that spoke to me, including this one from the thoughts of the corporal as he wrote a story:
Unlike what high-school students are taught, reporters put the gist up front, under the notion a reader’s attention span is limited. The writer presents the meat in an inverted pyramid of essentials. … He had never understood why the intent of a story in a school paper was defined in the last line of the first paragraph and not right up front, as if the student was gathering his thoughts.
Truly good writing should seem incidental, like the oil’s value on a door without a squeak. The readers should become so enveloped in concision of reason, description, or dialogue they wouldn’t take time to marvel over the writing concept. Good writing shouldn’t squeak either.
There were quite a few passages about writing throughout the book. This was Ara’s first novel, right? What better time to meditate on writing…
Drawers & Boothsis an unusual book; if you choose to read it, you may have to be patient. It’s worth plodding through the Cortinia scenes to get to the meat of the novel, where the magic of metafiction begins. I second that; it’s interesting that we both used “plod” to talk about our experiences with those first chapters.
Ara 13′s book jacket bio says: “Ara 13 was a United States Marine Corps combat correspondent and Army special operations soldier. He is a national columnist, award winning journalist, and recipient of medals from the U. S. Navy, Marine Corps, Army and Air Force. Ara comes from a long line of primates. His ancestors are directly responsible for the fashioning of the wheel and the discovery of fire. One of his ancestors was even the first recorded Homo sapien. Therefore, the pressure for Ara to succeed is enormous.” I loved this author bio. His second book should be out soon; will you be reading it? Curious? Read more at his website.
Doesn’t sound like my kind of book, but reading your review was lot of fun!
I loved reading this dual review! Fun to see the interplay between both of you. And this would certainly be way way way out of my comfort zone! I could barely follow along with the review. Fun post to read … doesn’t sound like a fun book to read!
I didn’t read Drawers & Booths but I read his second novel, Fiction. My review is here
I just finished writing my review for this book and believe me I have the same defn you have given in your review
I’ll be posting it in a couple of days.
But I LOVED this book
So what kind of name is “Ara 13″???? That alone could be a tip off to the bizarre story plot in the book. But it sounds intriguing. Definitely NOT your run of the mill storyline!
Kathy – writing the review this way was fun. I learned about “modernism” and “post-modernism” writing from interacting with Jessi.
Jenners – both the book style and the review style were out of my comfort zone! But, a fun experience.
Marny – thanks, I’ll check out your review of FICTION
Violet – and I’ll look for your review of DRAWERS & BOOTHS; sounds like a similar reaction.
Sandy – the author bio says he has officially changed his last name to 13 (making it a challenge for me to figure out where to shelve the book in my library!). I’m not sure if the name change is true, or a marketing effort …
[...] Drawers & Booths by Ara 13 [...]
I’ve got a copy of FICTION that I’m hoping to start soon – I have liked the metafiction I’ve read so far, so I’m hopeful. And I may have to pick up Drawers and Booths at some point too.
I really enjoyed the interplay between Dawn and Jessi in their separate reviews. (Jessi’s is at http://casual-dread.blogspot.com/2009/04/review-drawers-booths.html ) Many people actually enjoy the military story, as it isn’t your typical rifleman story, but one from a public affairs perspective. I did, however, add a glossary in the final version to help with the alphabet soup. I like that you two gravitated toward the comments on writing. Perhaps, you also found interest in the fact that military journalists aren’t allowed to write opinions contrary to the command. Ultimately, though, I hope the book made you laugh.
As for my name, I really did legally change it in 1998 between stints in the Marines and Army. I just thought it was funny to have a number where others have a name. My driver license has Roman numerals (Ara XIII). Doormen will ask how to pronounce my name. That too, makes me laugh. Admittedly, it is a good marketing item, as people tend to remember the name, but it began as me goofing on my friends. I like doing drastic things like that, not telling them, and then, pow … “Oh yes, did I tell you I changed my last name to a number?”
BTW, I love Crying of Lot 49. But I hate most stream of consciousness. I don’t associate metafiction with stream of consciousness. I am too mindful of reader flow.
As for the italics, I have a style that I try and adhere to. 1.) I italicize all directly stated internal dialogue to separate it from the omniscient narrator and attribute it to a character, as if it were a mind quote. 2.) I italicize as an underline to stress or slow the reading; this would be attributed to the author. 3.) I italicize when wanting to bring notice to the word itself instead of the meaning, like my use of like in this sentence. 4.) I italicized lingo that the omniscient narrator (not Hattie) used as a way of attributing it to a character’s mindset, as if he was quoting from them beyond what is available in the book. For instance, think outside the box, was italicized because the lingo draws too much attention to a narrator (as all clichés, allusions, metaphors, and comparisons do), a storyteller who’d prefer to be omnisciently unnoticed. To mask the personality insinuated by such vernacular, the third-person narrator is in essence quoting from a phrase another character would use. Additionally, this phrase has duality, which is why the lingo is even there—it doubles as an idiom for creativity, and refers to the fact that the Corporal is so mindful of his ability to move outside the MASH compound (also know as the box). Additionally, the characters assume personalities outside of the frame of the book, another literal box. All three levels are insinuated. And yes; I am this particular.
Hope you all had fun with this. Thanks again.
Ara
I am not sure I would like this book, but the style of the review was excellent and really interesting to read!
I’m so sorry I haven’t been around your blog for a long time. I haven’t been blogging much myself, but I just wanted to drop by and say hi, wish you a good weekend and a nice Easter (if you celebrate that) and apologize for being scarce.
I am finishing my Master thesis and this takes up most of my time. Hopefully, by the end of May, I will be able to blog more and participate more around the blogosphere.
I am still reviewing books from time to time on my blog, but I am not really active.
I don’t expect you to come running visiting and commenting, I just wanted to let you know that I am very much alive and I miss reading and commenting on your blog very much.
This is a personal message written to all the blogowner, whose delightful blogs I visit on a regular basis, but it has been copy/pasted. So if you find it on other blogger’s blogs, that is why.
I look very much forward to be active again – and apologize once again for not being active the past month and not being able to be active for another month or two.
Louise,
http://louspages.blogspot.com
Heather – I’m going to take a look at FICTION, too.
Ara (Mr. XIII?) – thanks so much for your comment. Your method of italicizing is very interesting and consistent, I’m glad you explained what it meant … I figured there was *some* pattern to it! We did have fun; I’m glad you shared Hattie Shore, et al, with me.
zibilee – stepping outside the comfort zone can be a pleasant surprise.
Lou – I can imagine your workload, finishing the thesis … best wishes with it!
Oscar Wao! If that counts, then I have read some meta fiction after all
This sounds so interesting and unique. And I love how you and Jessi did your reviews. Thanks for joining the mini-challenge!