Prime Time Replay:
James Morrow
on his novel Blameless in Abaddon
Date: Thu Oct 9 19:32:15 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Welcome to OmniVisions. Tonight, beginning at 10:00 PM EDT, our guest will be James Morrow. Jim is one of the finest satirists writing today, usually with a special eye toward theology. As usual, the first hour will take the form of an interview, and we'll open the virtual floor for audience participation at about 11:00 PM EDT. If you've arrived early, you may wish to peruse Jim's Web site at http://www.sff.net/people/jim.morrow. We'll see you at 10:00.Good evening and welcome to OmniVisions. Are you there, Jim?
MsgId: *omni_visions(3)
Date: Thu Oct 9 21:59:45 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Yes, I am here, in all my various dimensions.
MsgId: *omni_visions(4)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:02:10 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Great! (Gee, that reminds me of "Diary of a Mad Diety" for some reason...) Let's jump right in. Could you give a a precis of the first two parts of the "Godhead Trilogy?"
MsgId: *omni_visions(6)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:05:55 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
"TOWING JEHOVAH" is one of those novels in which a supertanker captain is asked by the angel Raphael to hook his ship up to God's decomposing body and tow it to an iceberg tomb in the Arctic. It's a kind of demented, science-fictionalized version of "LORD JIM." The captain is seeking redemption. If he completes this mission, he may receive absolution for the terrible oil spill he caused several years earlier."BLAMELESS IN ABADDON," the second book of "The Godhead Trilogy," beguns when an Arctic earthquake spews out the Corpus Dei. While the vast majority of humankind is relieved, Judge Martin Candle decides to put God on trial in The Hague for crimes against humanity. It's the Book of Job retold as a courtroom drama .
MsgId: *omni_visions(9)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:13:57 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Is your comparison of "Towing Jehovah to "Lord Jim" one that occurred to you after writing it, or was it something you were aiming to do?
MsgId: *omni_visions(10)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:17:22 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
The Conrad comparison emerged fairly late in the novel's composition. "TOWING JEHOVAH" arrived in my mind not as a concept but as an image. One day I found myself possessed by a mental picture of a huge corpse being towed by a supertanker. Who is the captain? I asked myself. Why is he hauling the corpse of God. So I wrote the novel to discover the answers.
MsgId: *omni_visions(12)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:19:56 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Did this series begin as a trilogy in your mind, or did later ideas spark the desire for a continuation?
MsgId: *omni_visions(13)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:24:10 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
I sold the idea of God's death to Harcourt Brace as a trilogy . . . which is not the same thing as saying that I KNEW what each book was going to cover. Volume Two was originally called "TERRA INCOGNITA," and it was going to concern the dive through the divine neurons. The courtroom stuff emerged much later. I simply figured, "The death of God is a big subject. Big enough to merit three books . . . three different takes on the same subject."
MsgId: *omni_visions(15)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:28:11 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Religious satire is something that will always spark controversy. Would you consider yourself to be irreverent?
MsgId: *omni_visions(16)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:31:13 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
"Irreverent" isn't quite strong enough. Blasphemous . . . heretical . . . a candidate for hellfire . . . Those are the sorts of blurbs I sometimes get on call-in shows (not this one of course). I want to get people thinking till it hurts.
MsgId: *omni_visions(17)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:35:43 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Fair enough. Yet satire isn't always necessarily "against" the institutions portrayed within. I guess I'm trying to ask (without delving into areas too personal) is whether you're reverant under your irreverence? (If'n I'm makin' any sense:-)
MsgId: *omni_visions(18)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:40:08 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
It's no secret that I have no use for churches (including secular churches, like the stock market). I am reverent vis-a-vis the universe. I think you HAVE to be in awe of reality, given how much we now know about the cosmos, and how much we DON'T know (and how little we don't know that we don't know). I think there's a million times more majesty in a clear starry sky than in all the revealed wisdom ever committed to sacred texts. Try it some time. Do you have stars in New York City?
MsgId: *omni_visions(20)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:43:48 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
We have plenty of stars in New Yourk City, now that they're making more films and TV shows here. I have my own autograph book.Your earlier work ("Wine of Violence," "Continent of Lies," "The Way the World Ends," etc.) didn't deal anywhere near as much with religion and theology as it does now. Is there any particular reason this niche has developed for you (for now)?
MsgId: *omni_visions(23)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:50:11 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
I wrote "WINE OF VIOLENCE" and "CONTINENT OF LIES" at a time when I thought plot was the most important element of fiction. Those stories have lots of twists and turns. Now I think anger is the most important element of fiction . . . the stuff that drives you crazy. "THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS" is, among other things, a very angry book. After blowing up the planet, I looked around and found God, another source of anger. Hence, "ONLY BEGOTTEN DAUGHTER" and "THE GODHEAD TRILOGY." My irreverence is fundamentally an intellectual position. I don't think I'm working out any personal vendettas between myself and organized churches . . . For me, though, intellect is an extremely passionate faculty, which is where I part company with the New Age and other anti-Enlightenment schools of thought.
MsgId: *omni_visions(26)
Date: Thu Oct 9 22:57:12 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Interesting . . . It seems the angrier you get, the funnier your stories are. (We haven't mentioned "Bible Stories for Adults," yet. Do you think there's a correlation between anger and comedy?
MsgId: *omni_visions(27)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:00:00 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
I think that when anger and comedy go off into the woods together, they come back holding a baby called satire. It's a demanding idiom. It's not just a matter of being amusing. Douglas Adams is hilarious, but he isn't in the great angry tradition of Mark Twain, Voltaire, and Vonnegut.
MsgId: *omni_visions(28)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:03:39 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
This is true, but then I've always thought of Douglas Adams as a comedic writer -- not a satirist. Why is it that true satire seems relatively rare nowadays?(Message to all: We have now opened the forum for audience participation. If you would like to add your comments or chat with Jim Morrow, use the dialog box which should have been added to your screen by now. (Click on "Pause While Typing", first.) Please don't forget to sign your messages so we know who you are.)
MsgId: *omni_visions(32)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:06:41 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
I think we live in an age sadly lacking in irony. Betty Eadie dies, goes to heaven, gets a T-shirt from Jesus, writes a book about it . . . and half the country BUYS it (literally and figuratively).
MsgId: *omni_visions(30)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:06:29 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 128.118.72.252
What do you think about applying Clarke's Law to the events in "TJ" and "BIB?" The whole thing might just be a grandiose practical joke. We fall for it because we're childish enough to believe in god, angels, devils, etc. Zentinal
MsgId: *omni_visions(35)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:11:33 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Zentinel: Yes, it's occurred to me that all of reality may just be the mechanical contrivance of an advanced civilization . . . but that's such a nightmarish, Kafkaesque thought that it leaves me stupefied.
MsgId: *omni_visions(31)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:06:39 EDT 1997
From: Marilee At: 207.172.74.226
Hi Jim & Jim! We're following this from O*W*C. :) What about "City of Truth" -- was that angry? At what?
MsgId: *omni_visions(37)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:14:07 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Marille . . . In "CITY OF TRUTH" I'm angry at myself . . . at my realization that, if my son were dying, I would probably lie to him about it.
MsgId: *omni_visions(33)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:07:41 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 204.191.150.157
Generally, how much research is needed for your novels & Which book required the most research? -Sean Browning
MsgId: *omni_visions(38)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:15:52 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Sean . . . Reseach is crucial for giving my impossible plots a patina of plausibility. For "THIS IS THE WAY THE WORLD ENDS" I read two dozen books about nuclear weapons, even though it's a ghost story.
MsgId: *omni_visions(34)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:08:26 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 209.60.96.134
Mr. Morrow, I just discovered your books a week ago. (Sorry). Brilliant Stuff. Loved "Towing Jehovah" and I'm halfway through "Only Begotten Daughter." The question: Was turning God's body into fast food the comment on moder organized religion that it appeared to be? Thanks, Christopher Moore (author "Practical Demonkeeping," "Coyote Blue," others)
MsgId: *omni_visions(41)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:17:43 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Christopher . . . Actually, the fast food eucharist is supposed to be weirdly respectful, if not reverent. God is finally making himself useful.
MsgId: *omni_visions(36)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:11:59 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.201.138
Hi Jims. Mr. M -- do you ever worry that you're "preaching to the converted? That only smug agnostics will dig your stuff? Patrick here.
MsgId: *omni_visions(42)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:20:36 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Patrick . . . Well, I hope I'm preaching to the UNconverted. I'm trying to reach the bewildered middle. My most satisfying fan letters begin, "Until I read your stuff, I didn't realize it was okay to have these evil thoughts . . ." I am a better poker player than you can begin to imagine.
MsgId: *omni_visions(44)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:22:33 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.201.138
Maybe it was Polo not poker. I get those two confused. Patrick here.
MsgId: *omni_visions(40)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:17:06 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.201.138
Comment: Mr. M's combo of exquisite prose, humane investigative philosophy and hilarity is a rare and precious gift. My life has been enriched immensely by it. But I'm told he is a lousy poker player. Patrick here.
MsgId: *omni_visions(39)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:16:33 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 204.191.150.157
Personally I am really big on character study and developement, and I compliment you on you diversity in combining great personalities. I find that I can related to many of them, esp. Jack Sperry (Truth), which character do you feel you relate with the closest? -Sean Browning
MsgId: *omni_visions(48)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:24:21 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Naturally I feel very close to George Paxton and his hopeless quest to protect his daughter in "WAY THE WORLD ENDS." Even though "TOWING JEHOVAH" has been accused of anti-feminist sentiments, I also feel close to Cassie Fowler and her passionate skepticism. I also like Julie Katz, my existential Jesus.
MsgId: *omni_visions(43)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:22:02 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 204.191.150.157
Excuse my typos! Would you, yourself, have joined Martin Candles' league of Jobians? -Sean B.
MsgId: *omni_visions(46)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:23:21 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 168.15.176.84
Whats your take on the christianisation of TV. Ex - "7th heaven." Good family programing or continuing propaganda? Sean
MsgId: *omni_visions(50)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:28:34 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Sean . . . The suffering of my Jobians comes from my imagination (thank God). I admire their honesty, but I haven't experienced enough annihilating pain to be allowed into their company. I haven't seen "SEVENTH HEAVEN" or "TOUCHED BY AN ANGEL." I imagine I would find them infinitely insipid.
MsgId: *omni_visions(49)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:24:42 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 206.113.24.10
Mr. M -- is "BSA" meant to be taken as separate, mostly unrelated parables, or do they form some sort of cohesive (though elusive) whole? And what is that whole, besides the usual beautifully irreverent satire? --Jeff in Chelmsford.
MsgId: *omni_visions(52)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:31:58 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Jeff in Chelmsford . . . When I went to stitch my stories together into a collection, I put a lot of effort into putting them in a KIND of narrative order. There are many connections. The book begins and ends with women who say no to patriarchy, for example. Is your father watching baseball now?
MsgId: *omni_visions(51)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:29:29 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.201.138
Ever had any intelligent hate mail? That might be extremely complimentary. Patrick O here.
MsgId: *omni_visions(53)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:32:07 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Relating to Patrick O's question, Jim, I was going to ask if you've ever been worried by Fundamentalists. Rushdie Syndrome.
MsgId: *omni_visions(56)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:34:31 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Patrick . . . Hate mail is ipso facto unintelligent. I have received thoughtful letters from people who know more about God than I do. These have given me pause. I remain perplexed . . . and like it.
MsgId: *omni_visions(54)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:33:06 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 204.191.150.157
I think there is more than one Sean here. Anyway . . . You mentioned earlier that anger and humour spawn satire. Perhaps what anger is what actually allows humour to exist even on it's own. I'm sure even D.Adams has issues. Though satire is a dying art. Even Vonnegut's getting slagged by the critics these days.
MsgId: *omni_visions(57)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:34:32 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 209.60.96.134
Along the lines of Jungian Archtypes, Campbell's Masks of God, etc, do you think humans are hard-wired to seek something greater? A spiritual life, if you will? -Christopher Moore
MsgId: *omni_visions(59)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:38:45 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Christopher . . . I sure-as-hell believe that I'M not hardwired to accept supernatural interpretations of the universe. I hope that nobody is. If we can't suspend our beliefs (as opposed to suspending disbelief for puposes of appreciating fiction), then all is lost.
MsgId: *omni_visions(58)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:37:37 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 168.15.176.84
Your feelings on organized religion are somewhat obvious. Were you ever at some point Religious? Sean P
MsgId: *omni_visions(61)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:41:02 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Sean P . . . There was a time when I believed in God, because the culture didn't give me a single reason not to . . . But then the detritus of the dreaded 18th-century Enlightenment began leaking into my skull, and it was all over.
MsgId: *omni_visions(60)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:38:52 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.201.138
An unfair question: As a writer -- what part of the process is most difficult for you? Is it something that you manage to hide well in the finished text? Patrick O here.
MsgId: *omni_visions(64)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:43:44 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Patrick . . . The hard part . . . the hellish part . . . is getting the raw architecture of a scene down on the page. After that it's heaven: playing with wild images, hitting on le mot juste, inviting the characters over for tea. I used to make movies. Hated the shoots. Loved what I could do in the editing room.
MsgId: *omni_visions(62)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:41:29 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 204.191.150.157
Have you ever considered converting any of your novels/stories to screen? Which one would you most prefer to see made into a film? Sean B
MsgId: *omni_visions(67)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:46:28 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Sean B . . . I would most like to see "BLAMELESS IN ABADDON" filmed. I love talk in movies. But there is no planet in the known universe where that is likely to happen. "TOWING JEHOVAH" is full of movielike imagery. "WAY THE WORLD ENDS" has been optioned . . . another cinematic novel, in many ways.
MsgId: *omni_visions(65)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:45:28 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
What movies did you make?
MsgId: *omni_visions(72)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:50:03 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Jim F. . . . In high school I made 8mm horror movies inspired by the Hammer cycle and "FAMOUS MONSTERS OF FILMLAND." The only thing of mine available on video is "A POLITICAL CARTOON," which I made with Joe Adamson and Dave Stone, high-school buddies who went on to win awards in Hollywood. This rare flick is available on a compilation reel called "CARTOONGATE!"
MsgId: *omni_visions(75)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:51:36 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
I MUST see that sometime. Please bring it in December when you come to do the radio show.
MsgId: *omni_visions(66)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:46:20 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 168.15.176.84
America is curious(at least for details on a celebrities indescretions). To me , it seems at odds with this curiosity when Christianity and its values are being adopted by more and more people. My experiences have led me to believe that christians SERIOUSLY frown/dislike any questions about their beliefs. Thats why I left/was kicked out anyway. To what do you attribute this change in our culture? Sean P
MsgId: *omni_visions(76)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:53:03 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Sean . . . Christianity is an amazingly ameboid beast. Many Christians love intellectual sparring. Many can't stand it. Look around. Why has our culture become so astoundingly incurious and banal? I wish I knew. Heretical thought: I believe it has nothing to do with television.
MsgId: *omni_visions(68)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:47:14 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 152.163.201.138
Must Sleep. A pleasure Mr. M. Thanks for your work. Patrick O here.
MsgId: *omni_visions(69)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:48:29 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Note to audience: 5-minute warning. Please post your final questions, and at 11:55 we'll ask for silence so we can draw to a close.
MsgId: *omni_visions(70)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:49:01 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 128.118.72.252
Jim: What's your take on Millennium Madness? Are you intrigued or frightened by what believers may do over the next three years? --Zentinal
MsgId: *omni_visions(79)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:57:37 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Zentinal . . . Millennial Madness scares the stuffing out of me. As I mentioned in the intro to "BIBLE STORIES FOR ADULTS," the year 2001 will dawn, Jesus will forget to come, and the millennial mentality will actually PROSPER from the contradiction. I'm thinking of buying a rocket and spending the turn of the millennium on Mercury, where there is plenty of hot air but not so much self-satisfied irrationality.
MsgId: *omni_visions(73)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:51:07 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 209.60.96.134
Whoops. Keep hitting the wrong button. If Religion is just the fodder for stories, where does the anger come from (or what is the object of the anger?). -Christopher Moore
MsgId: *omni_visions(77)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:53:06 EDT 1997
From: guest At: 204.191.150.157
Thank you so much for giving me the opportunity to ask some questions. Not much information is supplied on the back covers of your books, so it is a treat to find out more. But . . . I must go, there is much work to be done early in the morning. Thanks again! -Sean Browning, Toronto.
MsgId: *omni_visions(78)
Date: Thu Oct 9 23:54:58 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
I think we still have one open question from Christopher, then I have a last, and then we''ll close.
MsgId: *omni_visions(80)
Date: Fri Oct 10 00:00:25 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Christopher Moore . . . The anger comes from the way that the received wisdom of religion stifles the human potential. If it weren't for religion, I think we might all be immortal by now.
MsgId: *omni_visions(81)
Date: Fri Oct 10 00:02:49 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
OK! Jim, I have one last question I like to ask all here at OmniVisions: For you, how do short stories differ from novels?
MsgId: *omni_visions(82)
Date: Fri Oct 10 00:06:12 EDT 1997
From: JamesMorrow At: 146.186.19.168
Dear Jim . . . I much prefer the novel. With this format, I can not only critique God, I can BE God. I can build an entire universe. Whereas the short story format merely lets me function as some minor cherub. I love epics.In a novel, the characters can reflect not only on the tribulations they remember, but on the tribulations that we, the readers, saw them enduring. A novel folds back on itself. A story cannot . . .
Thanks for masterminding a stimulating and exhausting experience for your most recent guest. I had fun. Good night.
MsgId: *omni_visions(86)
Date: Fri Oct 10 00:11:17 EDT 1997
From: Jim_Freund At: 207.38.234.221
Well, we had even more fun "because" you were here, Jim. Thanks!To all, thanks for coming by. Don't forget that next Thursday, Ed Bryant will host Charles L. Grant, whose latest works are "In the Mood," and an anthology co-edited with Wendy Webb, "Gothic Ghosts." Good night.
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