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djonnAs a fair percentage of my friendslist is literate in the ways of fanfic, the following may be of interest...
A columnist for my local daily newspaper (the Portland Oregonian) has just come out with a new book -- apparently her first novel, though she has published several other books -- entitled Confessions of a Teen Sleuth. The Sunday book review section, therefore, carried a review
of the book this past weekend. [Were it not written by one of their columnists, this is the sort of book the Oregonian, which specializes in reviewing Important Politically Correct Books Read By Literati, would not touch with a ten-foot pole. But we digress.]
The cover says that the book is a parody, undoubtedly on the advice of its publishers' lawyers. However, while the tone of the narrative is just sufficiently comic enough to justify the label, what Cain has actually written (I'm only three chapters in so far, but it's more than clear enough already) is a pitch-perfect work of Stratemeyer Syndicate fanfic. Specifically, this is Nancy Drew's autobiography, supposedly entrusted to Cain because Nancy was impressed by Cain's prizewinning four-volume biography of Trixie Belden, with appearances by the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift Jr., Christopher Cool, and such other folk as Cherry Ames and Encyclopedia Brown (!).
Not surprisingly, Nancy writes herself as a Mary Sue, with narrative tics and attitudes that the fanfic-literate will recognize in the proverbial New York minute. There is a twist, however; Carolyn Keene is also involved, having been a Real Person rather than a house name invented by the Stratemeyers, and she is apparently not merely a Mary Sue wannabe, but may bear a frightening resemblance to a certain Mary Sue Whipple.
In short, this is that vanishingly rare and startling animal, a work of genuine fanfic that's been professionally published and treated with respect by real-world critics (there's a favorable New York Times review (registration probably required), no less).
As Spock would say, "Fascinating." And definitely a work that those interested in either teen sleuths or matters of fanfic-theory will want to investigate.
A columnist for my local daily newspaper (the Portland Oregonian) has just come out with a new book -- apparently her first novel, though she has published several other books -- entitled Confessions of a Teen Sleuth. The Sunday book review section, therefore, carried a review
of the book this past weekend. [Were it not written by one of their columnists, this is the sort of book the Oregonian, which specializes in reviewing Important Politically Correct Books Read By Literati, would not touch with a ten-foot pole. But we digress.]
The cover says that the book is a parody, undoubtedly on the advice of its publishers' lawyers. However, while the tone of the narrative is just sufficiently comic enough to justify the label, what Cain has actually written (I'm only three chapters in so far, but it's more than clear enough already) is a pitch-perfect work of Stratemeyer Syndicate fanfic. Specifically, this is Nancy Drew's autobiography, supposedly entrusted to Cain because Nancy was impressed by Cain's prizewinning four-volume biography of Trixie Belden, with appearances by the Hardy Boys, Tom Swift Jr., Christopher Cool, and such other folk as Cherry Ames and Encyclopedia Brown (!).
Not surprisingly, Nancy writes herself as a Mary Sue, with narrative tics and attitudes that the fanfic-literate will recognize in the proverbial New York minute. There is a twist, however; Carolyn Keene is also involved, having been a Real Person rather than a house name invented by the Stratemeyers, and she is apparently not merely a Mary Sue wannabe, but may bear a frightening resemblance to a certain Mary Sue Whipple.
In short, this is that vanishingly rare and startling animal, a work of genuine fanfic that's been professionally published and treated with respect by real-world critics (there's a favorable New York Times review (registration probably required), no less).
As Spock would say, "Fascinating." And definitely a work that those interested in either teen sleuths or matters of fanfic-theory will want to investigate.
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(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-19 09:19 am (UTC)And yeah, this does beg the question, when is something fanfic and when is it pastiche, parody, or homage? Is it simply a question of one being professionally published when the other isn't?
As you said, fascinating.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-19 09:55 am (UTC)The Mary Sue qualities mute somewhat (though not entirely) in the second half, in significant part because the story takes place in real time. A final confrontation with Carolyn Keene goes in a direction that cuts sharply against the parody label, but raises a number of interesting metafic issues. And the finale/coda provides both closure and an opening for all kinds of shenanigans.
But there's no doubt whatsoever. In any qualitative sense one cares to put forth, this is fanfic in every way that counts.
(no subject)
Date: 2005-04-19 02:44 pm (UTC)