I finally bought a copy of American Idol (Black Bed Sheet Books, 2011) by S.C. Hayden at this year’s World Horror Convention, something I have been
meaning to do for a while. I had read part of it in manuscript form last year
as a submission to Montag Press; I liked it enough to enthusiastically
recommend publishing it before I was even halfway done, but was chagrined to
find that Black Bed Sheet beat us to the punch. That being the case, I vowed to
pay real American dollars for the final version in book form, and I happily did
so at WHC. (Full details of that trip, including meeting S.C. Hayden and Black Bed Sheets honcho Nicholas Grabowsky, can be found in an earlier post.)
I have since read the whole thing, and yeah, I really liked
this book. It is one of the more unconventional and straight-up fun, and often
funny, books I’ve read in a while, bristling with irreverence – literally, as
Hayden mocks every major religion I can think of and goes after the very notion
of organized religion itself.
American Idol tells the story of two friends and
a sister who revive the practice of idolatry, not because they believe in it as
a spiritual system, but purely for profit (and maybe a little provocation too).
This simple premise sets the stage for commentary on many aspects of our modern
culture, primarily faith and commerce. And Hayden certainly has a lot to say.
A few surprising plot twists really change the tenor of the
story as it unfolds. The general mood ranges from hilariously anarchic tweaking
of values and beliefs to more somber and emotional passages, before arriving at
a decidedly surreal climax. Hayden starts many chapters with quotes from
religious texts like The Bible and The Koran, as well as relevant quotes from
folks as diverse as L. Ron Hubbard, Nietzsche, and Tom Waits. A number of the
quotes had me thinking they must surely be a joke, but every time I Googled
them, I found they were authentic. Wow.
Hayden has a laid-back and conversational writing style that
is well-suited to the story and its multiple digressions. At times I was
reminded of the great Illuminatus! trilogy by Robert
Shea and Robert Anton Wilson. Faith, loyalty, synchronicities, and strange numerology as well as
shifting perspectives and voices figure into both works. American Idol isn’t
nearly as Byzantine or completely over the top as Illuminatus!, but the
parallels are there, I think.
My only real complaint is with the physical book itself. As
with so many small press books, there are a number of typos throughout. Nothing
that makes passages unintelligible or anything like that, but as a layout guy,
these things are hard for me to ignore. If you are not an editor or designer, you
probably won’t be distracted by them, and they certainly shouldn’t impede your
enjoyment of the story.
It probably goes without saying, but this is not a book for
the easily offended. Hayden’s targets of parody and scorn are many, and odds
are you or someone you love falls into at least one of the many groups within
his sights. Hopefully you can take a joke, because this is a book worth
reading. There is a great deal of interesting ideas and thought-provoking
commentary to be found in these pages, along with an enjoyable and engrossing
plot involving well-written characters. A book that can’t really be pigeon-holed
in a distinct genre, American Idol should appeal to anyone with a sense of
humor, an open mind, and an interest in the absurdities of modern American culture.
