Arthur Bradford's debut, 'Dogwalker,' a collection of short stories, pounces on the scene of new fiction. From a giant mollusk found in a car by a friend who has a tempting girlfriend, to the search for a new mattress with a clumsy dead-beat friend, the short stories in 'Dogwalker' are moral-free fables.
'Dogs,' the longest story of the collection gives details of the an affair between the narrrator (human) and his girlfriend's dog, Ellouise. The dog becomes pregnant and the narrator still keeps the affair secret from the girlfriend. When the dog finally delivers a litter of pups along with a human boy, the narrator sends the baby boy down the river in a shoebox. The couple breaks up and the girlfriend takes Ellouise. Years later, the boy reappears as a muskrat and starts singing. This, however, is only the beginning to the complicated story.
The stories' tones are presented in a lethargic, yet contagious mind-numbing rhythm. At his best, Bradford jump-starts his stories with strong opening sentences. Many of these sentences hit the reader right between the eyes. For example, the story 'Dogs' begins, 'No doubt you'll think I'm strange when I tell you I've been making love with my girlfriend's dog.' This opening is swift to grab the reader's attention.
Bradford's writing leaves the reader without any sense of closure. Every story, with exception to the last, has no definitive end. It leaves the reader confused. A majority of the one-dimensional characters waltz into the main plot line, then suddenly disappear without any explanation from Bradford.
The story 'Catface' is a good example of this lack of plot closure. Throughout the narrator's many experiences with his numerous roomates, he acquires a friend who looks like a cat, hence the title. The story consists of a laundry list of roommates who appear and disappear after a paragraph without any explanation. Three-legged dogs, witches and circus freaks enter the mix at random. There is no reason to why any of these characters are present. This unpredictablity, however, does provide entertainment.
Bradford has definitely found his own voice. This voice is original and will no doubt be warmly accepted by many readers. His style is elementary, but yet, will entice new audiences with its accessibility.
Bradford is a contributor to McSweeney's quarterly journal. His first film, 'How's Your News'? is a collaboration with 'South Park' creators Trey Parker and Matt Stone. The film is scheduled for release on HBO in spring of 2002. The Daily Cardinal talked with Bradford about his debut book and inspirations.
Why dogs?
You know, I really love dogs. I have two dogs and I spend a lot of time with them. When I am writing, they are always there, too, because they are nice and quiet. While I was writing the book, my dog had puppies under the desk. So while I was working on the book, I had 11 dogs and puppies in the house. So that was very affecting for me.
I called the book 'Dogwalker' because I always walk my dog and I felt like that was a constant in my life. When you walk your dog, you also meet a lot of people. You have access to this world of dogwalkers or people who like dogs. I also love dogs. I think they are really fascinating and beautiful. I think they are the only animals from the animal kingdom that has closely allied itself with humans.
Why did you not name the human narrator in your stories, but you always named the dogs?
I never named the narrator and it wasn't because I didn't think he should have a name; in fact, I probably would have called him Arthur if I did, but I didn't want to name the narrator anything other than my name because it shattered that illusion that this is a book of nonfiction. I want them to feel like it is someone's journals entries. I named the dogs after some of my friends because I thought that would be kind of funny.
I have heard that you also work in film. What medium do you enjoy best'film or writing?
I really do like them both. I think writing is the most satisfying because it is just a solo effort. In a way that also makes it hard because I like people and I get lonely. I like making movies because it is more social. Then you have the problems of dealing with groups. I do both because when I get sick with writing, I can make movies and vice versa.
Do you enjoy giving book readings?
I enjoy them a lot. When I read some of these stories, I play guitar. Because these stories are short and don't have a lot of description, they are easy to read out loud. I believe the job of a writer when they read something out loud is to sort of illuminate something about the story so it is worthwhile for readers to come all the way out there.
Who inspires you when it comes to writing?
Well, I would say the book that most inspired this book was, 'Jesus' Son' by Dennis Johnson. It is a book of short stories also told by the same narrator. I read that right after I finished college and it made me really excited about writing. I have always been into first-person narrators and short stories where they are connected in some way. Some other books that have influenced me are children's books. 'Stuart Little' by E.B. White starts off like, 'One day this woman gives birth to a mouse' and no one questions it. I really like it when strange things happen and no one really makes a big deal out of it. It is very funny. I am also big fans of Mark Twain and Jack London.
What do you see the future holding for you?
What I hope is that a lot of people will read the book. I hope that people who don't even read will read and enjoy the book. I want to write a novel. I hope that I will get to sell that novel and that gets read too. I would not care if those were the only two books I ever wrote though. It is not important to me to write twenty books before I die.
