Poëzie even zat? Ik ging laatst maar weer eens een roman lezen, na er veel over gehoord te hebben en inderdaad The Complete Works of Marvin K. Mooney (debut roman van Christopher Higgs, Sator Press) is een zeer aan te bevelen werk. Een meta-roman die de meta-roman belachelijk maakt. Een verhaal over het zoeken naar een verhaal en over het zoeken naar de auteur van het verhaal. Een roman als losse maar toch samenhangende verzameling teksten. En los van de vele spelletjes zijsporen en nieuwe beginnen, zit het ook vol met zeer virtuoos geschreven proza. Pagina 243:

Do you read upside down on the couch with your feet in the air and chocolate milk there by your side? Can you say the Czech alphabet backwards while juggling eggs over a thirty story balcony? Have you ever hotwired a car in downtown Berlin with a safety pin, a screwdriver, and a metal emory board, with the heat encroaching? Are you the sort of person who folds while holding a royal flush just to give the other person a win? Would you ever purposefully misappropriate syntax? Would you orchestrate everything down to the color of the dishtowels, teacups, and magnets? Have you ever not paid your taxes? Do you ever obsess over numbers? Ever set your alarm clock to an even number? What kind of deodorant do you wear? Is it masculine? Can you name a city in France you haven’t been? Are there places in the north of Spain that you have never seen? Have you ever planted a tree? Have you ever forgotten a friend’s birthday? Ever been caught in a lie and forgot what version of the truth you previously spilled? Have you ever raced across the countryside on a horse in complete rhythm? Ever challenged an anteater to a duel? Ever made your loved one go running? Ever parked on the wrong side of the road? When was the last time you bought a lottery ticket? Watched television? Bought clothes from a thrift store, a shopping mall, or on eBay? Would you even recognize the secret password when it mattered most? Would you leave town? Would you try to dig a tunnel to Japan?