Review: Orchestration Of Artifice By Darrick Franz

By John Yamrus

Okay, I just finished reading ORCHESTRATION OF ARTIFICE by Darrick Franz and I’ll say it before you do...WHAT THE FUCK???? 

That’s the first thing I said to myself right after I opened the package and paged thru the book and then sat down in the sunroom and started reading. What the holy fuck of a shit fuck is this crap of a book and what the heck is he trying to pull over on me right after I went and spent 17 dollars that I could have spent elsewhere on maybe a couple slices of pizza and a soda?  

That was really and truly the first thing I thought, and then I took a deep breath and started reading...and reading...and the more I read, the more I found myself getting into it and allowing myself to relax and enjoy myself, and then I really got into it.

And, for me to really get into this book and explain it to you, I’d have to give too much away, and I don’t want to do that. Telling you anything about the story, and especially HOW this story is written, will ruin your appreciation of what Franz has done, so, I won’t. But what I WILL do is give you an idea of books and things that it kinda reminds me of...and maybe that’ll help you decide whether or not this strange and wonderful little book is for you. 

Well...let me give you a little bit of a hint, at least. The back cover...the part of a book where the publisher usually does his selling and brags about what’s inside...what the reader can expect to fine. This book (even on the back cover) is different. This back cover only has two words:

EXPERIMENTAL FICTION. It’s there, on the back cover, in great big bold letters, almost as a warning...EXPERIMENTAL FICTION.

Think Ronald Suckenick’s OUT, that 1973 classic of postmodern fiction. Think Gertrude Stein. In music terms think John Cage, or those crazy indie pioneers of Krautrock, Neu!, and their two wonderfully dense albums NEU! and NEU!2. Think Captain Beefheart on steroids and you’ll get an idea of what this book is kind of about.

Think Louis-Ferdinand Celine and JOURNEY TO THE END OF THE NIGHT.

At its core, this book is a love story that burns itself out and frustrates the hell out of the reader because of what it says and what it doesn’t say. Especially at the end. It forces the reader to think (something of a hallmark of all Anxiety Press titles, a small publisher whose willingness to take artistic chances and dance on the edge of a cliff is fast earning them the reputation as THE publisher of experimental (read challenging and new) work.

Back in the day, Miles Davis made a career out of silence...out of the notes that he didn’t play and the silences he chose to record. There’s a lot of silence in this book, and a lot of blank space, forcing the reader to ride along with the story.

Think about all that I just told you and think about an undying, unyielding passion for a woman named Cecilia and then just for the hell of it throw in the densest pages of Ezra pound’s CANTOS and you’ll start to get an idea of what this book is about.

If I told you any more I’d be telling you too much, so I’m not gonna say anything else...other than if you can trust me and you’re willing to take a chance...to take a leap of faith over a steep cliff in the middle of a storm and if ya got 17 bucks that are burning a hole in your pocket and you’re looking to read something new that isn’t a beach read, that’s challenging, interesting and frustrating as hell...then pick up a copy of ORCHESTRATION OF ARTIFICE by Darrick Franz. If you can do that, you just might be in for a wild and crazy ride...just please don’t blame me for what happens next.

John Yamrus is one of the most prolific writers of poetry on the scene today, He is widely considered to be a master of minimalism and the neo-noir in modern poetry. The relaxed style of his writing can be seen as a continuation of the oral tradition of literature associated with Allen Ginsberg and The Beats, and his poems are best appreciated when read aloud. The unlikely pairing of often dark subjects, combined with humor and irreverence has become something of a trademark of his work. His nearly 50 published books, which include not only poetry, but also novels, memoirs and a children’s book, are beginning to appear in translation, and he is a frequent guest on podcasts and television programs. His acclaimed memoir, The Street, is a look back at his early years, growing up less than wealthy, in a Pennsylvania coal town in the late 1950s. His latest books include: seriously! and Doing Cartwheels on Doomsday Afternoon.