May 23rd, 2022 - Occupational Hazards

Dear TNY,

I’m on the fence about “Occupational Hazards”.

And the reason is that this story, like all stories, has already been done.  And no, I don’t mean the resumé aspect of it.  I mean the region & the timeframe & the struggle.  And you published its predecessor so you should know that.  It’s called—HOLY FUCKING SHIT…

No, that’s not the name of the story.  The name of the story is “Playing Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain” which I had to look up (because it’s a hard title) and just fucking saw that it’s the same goddamn author as “Occupational Hazards” (MSG is a fucking awesome story that comes off as original, almost magical, and intoxicating; it’s the best kind of storytelling, in which you take a subject that is unfamiliar to the reader (because your elitist readers don’t know shit about Afghanistan other than what they see on CNN) and you use tight, original narrative to get us to care about a tiny portion of the subject, thereby allowing us to care, for a brief moment, about it all).

So what gives, then?  What’s topical about this?  Because if the story is a lesser version of its predecessor, then you must be publishing it so your out of touch, upper-middle class and higher, white readers can “relate” to the “not-them” (I’m almost certain we will read an active-shooter story within the next two months because of the horror on Saturday, mark my fucking words).  Right?  So, is it the inclusion of the evil Soviets?  Or is it Apu (Apu is Indian, not Afghan; I’m guessing that’s not a mistake, so are we supposed to infer that Americans assume a brown dude with an accent is from any country in that region, and if that’s the intention, I would be willing to believe that because Americans seem to have slipped into one of the worst categories of humans out there, that being extreme confidence with very little command of actual fact)?  Is it ‘Merica’s current wave of white nationalism/supremacy?

Fuck knows.  Look, it’s not a bad story.  I thought the resumé aspect was novel.  Not as novel as MGS, but what is?  But in the same way that all Lee Child’s shit has the same broad strokes (same with Dan Brown and Tom Clancy), this does too.  It’s got a Kite Runner feel to it, you know?  There seems to always be a kid that died/got left behind and someone that makes it to America who then works their ass off just to see their children not understand hardship at all.  Hell, that was the plot in MGS too.  What I’m saying is the story should do something new in the subject or not exist. I’ve said this before about ‘Nam stories as an example. Once “The Things They Carried” existed, you had best blow it out of the fucking water if you are going to do another ‘Nam story, or what’s the point?  It’s going to come up short to the reader.  And this does that, for me.

So last year I wrote one story about my dad and another about my brother, both deceased (my brother being run over by a car at 16 and my dad getting plowed under by esophageal cancer at 64).  And I’ve written about them before.  Many times.  But the two stories I wrote last year…I won’t outdo them, I think.  Especially the one about my brother.  Does that mean I can’t try?  Hell no.  If I’m feeling it, I’ll fucking try.  But what it does mean is that I know enough to know it won’t be worth seeking publication if the story doesn’t beat either story from last year.  And I’m good with that.  I think most Art is coming from a person who is circling the drain of what really needs to be said inside themselves.  And maybe these artists stay alive long enough to write all the versions.  Maybe they don’t.  But what matters is that they try and respect the rest of the industry enough to know that if it’s not their best on the subject, and/or not better than the existing “best”, they can scrap it and try again.

I’m not mad.  This story is okay.  I’ll stop being so fucking picky for today.

Also, I can’t tell if the fart I ripped a few minutes ago had some moisture to it or I just have a sweaty buttcrack.  Either way I’m still sitting in it. So there’s some data for you to put in your pipe and smoke.

Well, that’s it from this crazy guy.  See you next week.

Nick