9/18/02
A novel of co-dependancy and vice from the world of the literati
By Jeff Minick
Lit Life by Kurt Wenzel.
Random House, 2001.
$24.95 — 320 pp.
There
are people who attain success in their working lives through guts
and willpower and sheer hard work. There are others who attain success
simply by being in the right place at precisely the right moment.
There are still others who are naturals at what they do and who soar
effortlessly as eagles above the mere mortals around them.It is one of these naturals—a writer, in this case—whom Kurt Wenzel takes as his main character in Lit Life. Set in Manhattan and the Hamptons, Lit Life takes a look at the lives and varying successes of several fictional writers, chief among them the young and erratic Kyle Clayton and the contrastingly older and more cautious Richard Whitehurst.
Clayton is an author who has ridden his way to the heights of literary stardom on the success of one book, but then finds himself stuck in a life of inactivity, literary catfights, and alcoholic binges. Whitehurst is older, a plodder at his work, a man who has written fine novels his entire life, but has received nowhere near the success or recognition of his other writing friends.
After meeting Clayton, Whitehurst invites the younger writer to move into his home in the Hamptons, hoping that Clayton will not only inspire him, but that Clayton will also become a sort of disciple to him. Clayton’s move acts as a sort of catalyst in Whitehurst’s life, bringing him face to face with his marital failings, the terrible faults in his relationship with his daughter, and his inability to write with the same fire as Clayton.
On the other hand, the move benefits Clayton. He slowly gives up his heavy drinking. He begins to follow a schedule that will allow him to write again. He meets Arthur Trebelaine, a famous writer of best sellers who in the act of befriending Clayton begins a struggle with Whitehurst for the young man’s soul. It is during his time in the Hamptons that Clayton finally begins writing again, restored to his trade by words of advice from Richard Whitehurst:
“Try this,” Richard said. “Try thinking of an anti-Clayton
reader. Your worst detractor. They despise everything you are, everything
you stand for—everything they think you stand for. Then you
start writing. Eventually a light goes off. You look at what you’ve
just written and you say, ‘Oh, no. I can’t possibly do
this. They’re going to crucify me for this.’ There, you
see! Now you’ve got your book. Everything else you get rid
of.”
While Clayton struggles to jumpstart his writing, Whitehurst finds
himself battling to hold his marriage together and looking for some
piece of common ground, however small, to share with his daughter.
His efforts in regard to both women, although humorous, touching,
and warm, are doomed to failure by the weight of past injustices
and neglect. Whitehurst has literally given his entire being to
his writing, so that when his writing fails him, his life suddenly
appears as a deep and murky waste.
Although Clayton and Whitehurst take center stage in this novel,
Wenzel also examines other aspects of the literary life. Characters
like the literary agent Larry Wabzug, the celebrated author Arthur
Trebelaine, and the publisher David Trevor—he wants to include
full color ads in novels—allow the reader to view both the
dark and the humorous aspects to contemporary publishing.
Wenzel’s well-timed use of humor helps transform this novel
of failure and despair into an entertaining read. Wenzel combines
a comedian’s sense of timing with an element of style that
might make Strunk and White proud. Here is Clayton just as he is
back on track in his writing:
Kyle took a pull of the cigar, letting the thick puffs of smoke
engulf his face like a perfume. Ahhhhhhhh, coffee bean and sweet
wood, chocolate and roasted nuts. Now here was a habit almost worthy
of Bacchus. Kyle had Arthur to thank for this one. He hadn’t
thought there were any vices left, had been a little disappointed,
frankly, to think he’d covered them all, and along comes Mr.
Trebelaine to the rescue. Not a moment too soon, either. This sober
lifestyle, this so-called healthy living, was killing him. He needed
something new to ruin himself with.
Kurt Wenzel’s novel, like that of Kyle Clayton, may itself
be a roman a clef, a book portraying real people, thinly disguised.
But whether these characters are based on actual people from the
New York literary world or whether they are solely the property
of Wenzel himself, Lit Life makes for a wonderful read about writers,
their lives, their triumphs, and their defeats.
(Jeff Minick lives in Waynesville. He can be reached at saintsbookco@aol.com)