Jonathan Penton: What is "Love Has Been Liquidated" about?
John Bryan: It's my The Bride Stripped Bare by Her Bachelors, even. It's my final solution to love. If I was a serial killer I would probably approach certain aspects of this book in the same way regarding the ritualistic nature of things like sex and relationships.
JP: To what degree is it autobiographical?
JB: Very much so. That's all I can really say on that one. Maybe more like a case study. And remember, whenever someone says something you have absolutely no interest in, I find the best response to be: Is that right?
JP: To what degree is the narrator an honest and/or accurate reflection of yourself?
JB: Very much so in as much as vampires do not cast reflections.
JP: Do you consider the piece funny? Angry? Bitter?
JB: Above all those things: Busy. It is a busy piece because I do not tolerate laziness.
JP: All of the pieces in "Love Has Been Liquidated" speak directly to the reader, who is addressed as "love." "Love" then must choose their reaction to the poem, role-playing through the text in response to your words. Who is the reader—the "player" in "Love Has Been Liquidated?"
JB: Whoever reads it. I'm a player too, I have no idea how someone is going to assemble these little pieces of me either. I wanted to keep that aspect a little vague. I wanted to keep any notions of identity quite lucid in the overall writing of this.
JP: Is it possible to "win" the role-playing game? Are some endings more desirable than others?
JB: If you get to the next level, you've won. There's five of these things to get through remember. Obviously, if a phrase ends with the line 'you've been liquidated' well, that can't be good.
JP: Say I'm a creative, intelligent woman, about your own age, reading this for the first time. Is it going to make me find you attractive? Should it?
JB: Good lord! What an odd question! If you know of anyone, pass my details on. Hey, I'm always game. Most people I'm close to will never read 'Love has been Liquidated'. Not that it's not an honest portrayal of what goes on upstairs in my head but people close to me know me well enough that they wouldn't need 'love has been liquidated' even as a supplement. For people who don't know me, well, it's a great introduction. They'll either want to get to know me, or they won't.
JP: The piece is heavily invested in using the language of the Holocaust to describe interpersonal relationships. Do you expect any fallout because of this?
JB: I hope not. I'm not trying to court it either. But if it happens, it happens. Actually any people that may be caught up in this know my brutal honesty; I don't think they will mind.
JP: You use the word "nigger" twice in "Love Has Been Liquidated," the word "faggot" once, and the abbreviation "nig" once. Why?
JB: I used faggot twice actually. Nig is the short of night so it's still black. To describe a black person as a nigger is, well, not very nice.
JP: You refer to Oprah as the "nigger Hitler." What does that mean, generally, and what does it mean in the context of "Love Has Been Liquidated?"
JB: Because she IS the nigger Hitler. I find Oprah extremely offensive. I find Oprah racist, narcissistic, and pig ignorant. She's arguably the second greatest orator of the twentieth century, and like orator No.1, she has nothing to say despite this. Yes, yes, her tears in an interview say more than any real words ever could, of course. I find her socially malignant. If one is passive-aggressive, she is ecstatic-violent. I was going to call her the 'nigga Hitler', but then I thought: 'nah fuck it, not far enough'. My use of the word has nothing to do with any other person who, via evolution, happens to be black. I would call Hitler a nigger too, because he WAS a racist.
JP: Hitler wasn't black, though. Why call him a nigger?
JB: The journalist Fritz Gerlich, who had met and had an interesting relationship with two people who were at extraordinarily bipolar opposites of the human spectrum, one being Hitler, the other being the stigmatic Therese Neumann, spoke out about Hitler in various newspapers in the thirties in Germany. As the Nazi Party were on the eve of power, he became even more relentless. And paid for it with his life of course. Among the articles he published was a photo shopped picture of Hitler with an African bride. Hitler was incensed.
JP: When I was growing up (a white Jew in Atlanta in the 80s and early 90s) "nigga" and "nigger" were completely different words: "nigga" was a term of endearment, often said by black people to white friends (and expected out of my mouth, from people who considered me a friend). "Nigger" was not. These days in the Southern U.S., the casual usage of "nigga" has dropped off (and you generally don't talk to people you meet in your 30s the same way you talk to people you meet as a kid, anyway). Do you think Canberra is very different in this regard?
JB: It's probably the same everywhere. In Australia it's probably the word 'Abo' which has the same connotations as nigger. Or 'Coon'. I can't really think of a 'friendly' equivalent for these words off the top of my head however. Will 'nigger' forever hold its potency, or will it slowly dilute throughout the centuries, to become archaic?
JP: And, yes, to "describe a black person is a nigger is...not very nice," that fact inspired this set of questions, actually—I guessed it was also "not nice" in Canberra. So, you just wanted to level a nasty insult at Oprah? Clear enough, but what about your other usages of the word?
JB: I've said all I'm going to say on her—... as for the rest, my previous answer sums up my other applications for the word. That's all there is to say.
JP: What about the word "faggot?"
JB: Does faggot count as a hate word?. I thought it was essentially too juvenile. I call Arthur Rimbaud a faggot from memory somewhere in 'Love Has Been Liquidated' because I think Rimbaud would refer to himself as such. Especially when he was a juvie.
JP: Do you expect fallout from editors and/or readers, as a result of these word choices?
JB: Haven't really thought too much about that. No time. Just had to keep writing. But I'll apologise in advance. That wasn't my intention to offend. But the little cogs that power this tome are whirring in motion. And whirring they will go, like a papertrail through a haunted maze.
JP: Do you consider yourself a racist? A homophobe?
JB: No and no. On and on.
JP: Are you still working on "Love Has Been Liquidated?"
JB: Yes. It contains all of my best material.
JP: What will you do next?
JB: I like the one hit wonders: Lautreamont (above all else), Rimbaud, Bunting, Villon, Eliot; people who didn't leave much but what they did leave—... I won't be doing much, for a long time.
JP: John, thanks for your patience with these questions, some of which I know (as you were forewarned) are a bit aggressive. We appreciate your time, and are thrilled to run the first section of "Love Has Been Liquidated."
JB: Cool. And while we are busy sucking each other off with praise and salutations Jonathan I would just like to say that I was first published in Unlikely Stories in November 2001. Then I was published in Unlikely 2.0. Then came Unlikely Stories of the Third Kind. And now I've made it into Unlikely Stories: Episode Four. I'm stoked. I hold all the various incarnations of Unlikely in high regard. They're the poetry journals I hold closest to my heart. End transmission.
Jonathan Penton is the Martyr Alpha at Unlikely Stories: Episode IV. You can learn less about him at his bio page.
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