The Chorus of Chirping Cicadas
$ 20.07
Description
The Chorus of Chirping Cicadas. In undercover work, avoiding detection is an art form, a mixture of strategy and adaptation; creating a character who blends and fades into the surroundings with a ‘story’ that is painstakingly rehearsed over and over until even you believe it. In twenty-four hours everything will be settled, the ten thousand dollars spent, the kilo of Mexican Brown heroin bought, the arrests and conviction of all the players in the dirty underworld of Bastrop, Texas, 1977. After a year of excuses, the parade of people march on, everybody is somebody else, wishing they were who they used to be, caught up in the game “Deal the cards, let’s play.”, they all have a role, they all wear a mask, even the ‘good guys’ : the undercover cops and undercover agents -- and let’s not forget the undercover reporters. In undercover work, avoiding detection is an art form, a mixture of strategy and adaptation; creating a character who blends and fades into the surroundings with a ‘story’ that is painstakingly rehearsed over and over until even you believe it. There is only the now and the now is smoke and mirrors that validate every moment of deception. Take cicadas, for example: living underground for years, digging out from the earth after decades in dirt and darkness only to hide in plain sight to avoid detection and guarantee survival. Cryptic coloration, the art of blending and becoming invisible. The only evidence they exist is hearing their lonely chorus of chirping come dawn or dusk. Until a moment like this arrives… ‘the past’ colliding with ‘the now’. Because there is only the now and the now is smoke and mirrors that validate every moment of deception. Kim Dallesandro writes with an immediacy and ferocity other writers would kill for. Her stories access the dark, striving heart of humans struggling to rise above - and escape - their situations. But, for my money, her real genius, and power, lies in making all of these characters not just authentic but, even more miraculous, relatable. In book after book, Kim Dallesandro stands out as one of the most original voices in American literature. (Jerry Stahl)
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