Kurt Cobain novel offers an intricate, genre-bending story

Posted on Nov 3, 2009 in Language, Life, Music | 1 comment

Once when I was a teenager, a friend offered to let me read a manuscript written by his dad’s friend. “Oooh, cool—a real manuscript!” I thought. The word manuscript was ripe with possibility of publishing and fame and to read one conferred upon the reader a privilege, a ticket to the insider’s club.  So I was excited when my friend handed me a three-ring binder stuffed with pages filled with double-spaced Courier text. “This is the real deal!” I thought, and dove in that night. Just one problem: it sucked. Turned out there was a reason why the author was letting anyone—including the teenaged friends of his friend’s son—read the thing: it was doubtful anyone else ever would.

Jacket design for "Redemption"

About a year ago, a friend asked if I’d read and edit his brother’s manuscript. I was honored and intrigued, but memories of my first manuscript experience almost stopped me from agreeing. I’m sure glad I did, because Darin Rice’s The Redemption of Kurt Cobain restored the cool factor in reading manuscripts. This is one story that should see the light of day (and not just due to its excellent first-round editing).

The story is an intriguing one that defies categorization. One way to frame it is by what it’s not: a biography of Kurt Cobain. The former NIrvana lead singer plays a central role in the story, yet is never actually named, other than the title. Sounds weird, but it makes perfect sense in the story’s context because it takes place after Cobain commits suicide. Now you’re intrigued, aren’t you? You should be. The plot weaves strands of politics, philosophy, sustainability, parenting, a bit of humor, and of course rock and roll into a surprisingly readable fabric. It’s clear that Rice knows a thing or six about music, which is evidenced by thoughtful selections of popular song lyrics that begin each chapter. I found it entertaining to return to the opening lyrical passage after reading the chapter to see how his choice foreshadowed what would occur in those pages.

Perhaps another way to introduce the story is to cite a bit from Rice’s own summary:

The Redemption of Kurt Cobain is decidedly political, undeniably rock and roll, and at its heart about the bond between fathers and daughters. Set in Washington State and Washington DC in the months preceding a modern presidential election, Redemption sets the stage to both ask and answer: “If Cobain had another chance at life, would he take it? Could this rock icon, armed with wisdom from the afterworld, find a way back to Earth to transform not only himself but our nation?

Inspired by the epic plot and convergent characters of The Stand and the otherworldly contemplation of The Lovely Bones, Redemption is unique and unexpected.  A contemporary marriage of physics, philosophy, music and matter, it embraces the notion of spirits in search of another Earthly chance.  As human frailties are exposed and confronted within the backdrop of a presidential election, Redemption builds suspense and combines literary and commercial elements as it taps the powerful and often hidden citizen activist and rock star in all of us.

Even the author’s own description doesn’t fully capture the essence of the story; that’s a testament to the uniqueness of the subject matter. The best way I can recommend it is this: reading it on the bus to and from work, I never fell asleep. That may not sound like high praise, but I fall asleep on the bus reading everything, so it means a lot that I couldn’t wait to find out what was going to happen next.

Rice is deciding how best to proceed with the work: shopping for an agent, discussing the intricacies of getting approval for the use of each chapter’s lyrical passage, oh and the small matter of titling a novel after a famous rock star in our litigious society. I can safely say that the book stands on its own without those passages or Cobain’s name in its title although both do bring an element of realism to the work. But the association with Cobain is a double-edged sword. On one hand, his instantly-recognizable name could help bring attention to the work. On the other hand, if you aren’t a fan of grunge music in general or Cobain specifically, you might not bother picking it up off the shelf at all. And it bears repeating here that while the story uses Cobain’s (after)life as a framework, it has so much more to offer than the name alone implies. And therein lies part of the problem finding a publisher for the book: it’s a genre-bender. Is it a ghost story? Sorta. A political thriller? Oh yes (one of the main characters is a senator running for the Presidency), but not in the typical way. Music biography? Mmmm yeah, if you read between the lines a bit. A self-help book on good parenting? Uh… not really but it’s got a little of that, too. You see the problem, if an excellent story that defies labeling is truly a “problem.”

If this introduction has piqued your interest, you can check out a bit more at Rice’s Facebook page for the work. And I will post here again when it’s published.

Editing this manuscript has taught me one thing for sure, though. If Darin Rice wants me to read another of his manuscripts, the answer is “yes.” Well, unless it comes in a three-ring binder.

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