By Paul Semel
August 26th, 20206
Long before anyone could go on the Internet and vent, Ian Shoales was going on comedic and illuminating rants about our world and culture, including on ABC’s late night news show, Nightline. But he was always more than just an insightful observer. Now Shoales is back with Veni Vidi Venti (paperback, Kindle), a new collection of his written work, which goes well beyond topical rants.
In the following email interview, Shoales — whose real name is Merle Kessler; Ian Shoales is an anagram for “I, an asshole” — talks about what pieces he included in this new collection.
For people unfamiliar with you, what kind of stuff do you write about, and what is the approach you take?
I’ve written about near everything. I started out wanting to be a novelist (sort of), and did write some short stories — one of which is included in this book — went to the Writer’s Workshop at the University Of Iowa (fiction), but kind of lost interest because there seemed to be little interest in the kind of fiction I liked writing, which was all over the map, from New Yorker smart college guy confessional, to sci-fi, thriller, and humor. I drifted over to the Playwright’s Workshop, which was more congenial to me: you could write something, and have actors perform it the same day. This led to my falling in with four other fellows, and starting Duck’s Breath Mystery Theatre, which was a way for me to write things, and collaborate with others, and have it shouted to the world. So I wrote all kinds of stuff, mainly comic in intent, television, radio, stage, film, music. My intent when I make something is generally to take a notion that occurred to me (or noticed in the news, or on the street, or something I read) that I want to flesh out into mockery, or praise. As a commentator, Ian Shoales, I have fielded many topics. He (that is, I) originally appeared on the radio, but also ranted on television. And various rants led to publication, and various syndications, etc. Currently, for the time being, me being old and retired, I guess, I only appear now on Philosophy Talk, a weekly program on public radio. A smattering of pieces from that are included in Veni Vidi Venti.
When asked to contribute a book to PM Press’ Outspoke Authors series, I looked at other writers who had been there (great company! Samuel Delany, Cory Doctorow, Jonathan Lethem, Ursula LeGuin, Marge Piercy, etc. big deal writers!). It is after all, a slim volume, like a French novel, so they put in novellas, juvenilia, and pieces they liked that never found a home. I decided to do the same thing, but felt a little odd about it, because most of my writing was written not with publication, but with performance in mind, either by me, or an actor. Plays and radio scripts, etc. But, you know, it’s all fiction if I write it down and call it that. I suspect that my writing will continue to be performative more than prosaic.
In a similar vein, for people who haven’t read any of your books, but have seen you on TV, how are your print pieces different from your visual ones?
One of my tricks, you might say, as a performer and writer, is to talk really fast. So people listen fast, because the material is often dense, or if not dense, switches topics on a dime, that sometimes all pays off at the very end. And they are quick, no more than three minutes as a rule, so the hope is the listener holds it all in the mind when I put it all out there. So the print version loses some of that urgency of attention, but on the other hand, it’s easier to follow, which worked to my advantage I think in one piece, “Sideshow Cassandra,” which I will explain when we come to it.
As you said, Veni Vidi Venti is more than just pieces of social and political commentary. In assembling V.V.V., how did you decide what pieces to include, and what to leave out?
I decided to make this kind of like the James Thurber anthology we had on our shelves when I was a kid. And The Best Of S.J. Perelman. I was primarily a humorist, and remembering books of mine past, I believed that Ian Shoales commentaries needed to be broken up a bit. The commentaries can be a lot. And some of the radio pieces are a bit too dated, or too broad. But I have written many things. I can’t say this shows my range here in Veni Vidi Venti (no musicals, no full length plays, no screen plays, no epic prison novels), but it is a picture of my life as a writer, not even mentioning pieces I did with Duck’s Breath.
One of the more intriguing pieces in Veni Vidi Venti is a novelette called “Spiff Bannister, International Correspondent: ‘Sideshow Cassandra’,” which takes the form of a radio play. What is this piece about, and why did you decide to tell it as a radio play as opposed to in prose?
I changed his name to Spiff Conyer BTW. I am probably going to perform this character in a podcast / play before I get too decrepit. Not this tale though. Too many characters. The radio play thing is kind of a joke. Nobody does radio plays. And they certainly wouldn’t do this one. Also it’s a shaggy dog story, really, disguised as a radio play. Well, something happens, but we don’t know what. Certainly not a movie version of Zambora! Girl To Gorilla! I amused myself I guess, which often happens. Writing a radio play is kind of like writing a villanelle. What has been proved. I don’t know. Read it and laugh.
You also included a piece from 1993 called “The Real Ian Shoales.” Why did you decide to include it in Veni Vidi Venti given that you didn’t include it in your previous book, Not Wet Yet, which came out in 1997?
No idea. Probably thought it was too linked to current events (i.e. the release of all those tell all books about Republican troublemakers). Now, I wanted it to link to the world as it is or was, especially when the ground is thick, once more, with Republican braggadocio.
Speaking of which Veni Vidi Venti is your first book since Not Wet Yet. Are there any writers who you feel had a big influence on the pieces in Veni Vidi Venti who were not an influence on Wet or either of the books you put out before it: Ian Shoales’ Perfect World or I Gotta Go?
Thurber and Perelman always. I would say that Pauline Kael, Max Beerbohm, Ms. Kael for forcefulness, and Mr. Beerbohm for putting himself into the center of his world as a kind of invented character, Max Beerbohm, who was also real, and a very snappy dresser.
One thing that struck me as odd about Veni Vidi Venti is that there isn’t an audio book version. Was this your decision or a publishing one? If the former, why didn’t you want to do an audio book for V.V.V.?
Many pieces are available, slightly different, in audio. I believe people want more in the way of a book, that is, somebody reading a novel to them as they’re driving, or painting the bedroom, or whatever. Not to untoot my own horn, Ian is best in small doses, which is why I mixed it up a bit, and also included Ian pieces with a little more oomph to them. I am certainly not averse to audio books, but it seems like authors must produce them themselves these days, to which I say, I don’t think so, bud. There are hours and hours of audio out there already.
Hollywood likes adapting short fiction into movies. Are there any pieces in Veni Vidi Venti that you think could work as a movie? And I don’t mean from a commercial standpoint but rather from an artistic one.
Well, the bits about the space aliens in the clearing learning how to be human were intended as templates for a series of cartoons. Kap’n Kitty’s Korner is intended to be a kind of teevee show of the future, where it’s just locked down smart phones shooting, really, no cuts to speak of, no zooms, nothing. Adding production value would not enhance the jokes, if such there be, and might even harm them. Most of the bits which pretend to be intended for movie or television probably work best right where they are. I have written actual scripts with aliens and fights and sex but not here.
So, is there anything else a potential reader might want to know about Veni Vidi Venti?
It’s a hodge podge, a potpourri, a rich protein stew, with surprises at every corner!
Finally, if someone enjoys Veni Vidi Venti, but it’s the first thing of yours they’ve read, which of your other books would you suggest they check out next?
Perfect World is pretty good, but it’s all about the 1980s, so. The other Ian Shoales collections are funny, if you like this sort of thing. I also wrote a couple Dr. Science books with [Duck’s Breath Mystery Theatre cofounder] Dan Coffey: I Know More Than You Do and Dr. Science’s Book of Shocking Domestic Revelations [both written as Merle Kessler]. Quite amusing! That’s about it. I am moving towards podcasts, and perhaps more songwriting, which I enjoy writing more than anything, really.
