From the back cover
“Lounge lizard. International man of misery. Space
cadet. Dog walker. Lover. Loner. Fighter. Fool. Vic Valentine has been all of
these things and more, and less─much less. These fourteen torrid tales of
forbidden love, shameless lust, surrealistic horror, existential mystery,
pointless mayhem, and just plain stupidity spanning Vic’s pathetic life
collectively illuminate the darkest corners of the human condition, without
revealing a single goddamn truth, other than we’re all lonely globs of
ephemeral flesh wandering aimlessly around a big ball of shit hanging by a
thread in a vast, apathetic world.
“Welcome to the hypnotic, erotic, neurotic world of
Vic Valentine, Private Eye.”
Overall review
14 Vignettes is
a great addendum collection of Vic Valentine works, filling in timeline gaps
relating to the P.I.-turned-dog walker’s life. As is often the case with Vic,
his neurotic and sexual worldview revolves around multimedia interests
(especially music and movies), women, tiki bars and frelled-up, over-the-top
situations. This unique, entertaining and pulpy string of stories is not a book
for the prudish or the politically correct, but it should not be, because
otherwise it would not be the fun, worthwhile read it is. It put me in the mindset of Peter O’Donnell’s Modesty
Blaise anthology, Pieces of Modesty, the way it filled in certain gaps
in her storyline. Both are worthwhile purchases.
Review, story by story
“Feet
First”: Vic engages the services of a
prostitute. Set during the Love Stories Are Too Violent for Me era, this
story has meaningful and clever banter. I love the finish, which has wild,
fresh ending like the best stories do.
“Vein
Attempt”: In Seattle,Vic tries to seduce
a sexy phlebotomist (Brigitte), who is a dead ringer for a French porn actress
Fans of director-writer Jean Rollin may especially like this one.
“By Any
Other Name”: Sex-, jazz- and CBGB-suffused
microtale. This prequel to the first Vic Valentine novel is chatty and entertaining, and ably sets up Love
Stories Are Too Violent for Me.
“Doc
and Me”: Vic’s final conversation with
his longtime friend-landlord-bartender─they talk about The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), as well as the virtues and vices of its 2003 remake (and
most remakes, in general). They also converse about the therapeutic value of
breasts, friendship and the beautiful diversity of the East Bay, California─especially
Oakland. Warm homage to the above subjects, this, one of my favorite entries in
this collection.
“Pawn
of the Dead”: Vic reminisces
about his brother (Johnny), who died at a young age, with whom Vic shared
common passions: punk/CBGB, Dawn of the Dead (1978) and other late
Seventies influences.
“Just
Breathe”: Vic has a hallucinogenic
slipstream of a case, involving a secretive woman (with whom he has a fling), a
blood bank, and an ending that may be the beginning of something sweet or
horrifying.
“Sick
as a Dog”: Vic has an affair with a
married woman (Katey), the owner of one of the dogs he walks. She is a woman
with a secret, beyond her wielded butcher knives, pet-play and other
sado/masochistic psychodramas.
“Blowing
Smoke”: In high school, Vic hooks up
with a classmate (Dolly), whose love of oral sex─giving and receiving─hides
surprising truths she would rather not talk about. Great end-line to this one.
“Westwood
Ho”: Los Angeles, late Eighties. Vic, hired to find a
missing stripper (Roxi), accomplishes his mission. A brief, tender and honest
friendship results. One of my favorite stories int 14 Vignettes.
“Googie
Grindhouse”: Prior to the events of the “Westwood Ho,” “Feet
First” and Love Stories, Vic
and Valerie─later known as Rose─fly from New York to Los Angeles, where she,
independent, sets the tone of their future encounters. Romantic, harsh and
sometimes nightmarish work.
“Tiki
Bar Bounce”: Vic gives a shout-out to his favorite,
real-life tiki bars, many of them located in the East Bay-San Francisco,
California region. Sexy women, mainly Monica, also get some printed love. There
is also a real-life cocktail recipe! Fun, sometimes trip-out read,
especially when Radon, a recurring Viharo character, appears.
“Pulp
Beat”: Vic tells the story of how he became a private
eye. It involves a naïve college student (Brenda), a spontaneous lie and a
Berkeley-to-San Francisco BART ride. This tale takes place before Vic meets Doc
and other characters, introduced in Love Stories. This is one of my
favorite selections in this collection.
“Page
Turner”: Vic dreams he is
another man (Will Viharo), shark-fishing in Florida with actor Christian
Slater. Fun meta-work.
“Illville”: A post-Vic Valentine: Space Cadet story,
this. Vic details his slip-swirl days with recent movies by Jim Jarmusch and
Quentin Tarantino, his wife (Val), ghosts (Doc), and life in general. This is a
solid, post-“Mental Case Files”* wrap-up, and satisfying bookend to this fourteen-tale
anthology.
(*The “Mental Case Files” are Viharo’s most recent
Vic Valentine novels: Vic Valentine: International Man of Misery, Vic Valentine: Lounge Lizard for Hire and Vic Valentine: Space Cadet.)
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