{"id":8136,"date":"2018-06-23T15:42:02","date_gmt":"2018-06-23T15:42:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/?p=8136"},"modified":"2018-06-23T16:05:43","modified_gmt":"2018-06-23T16:05:43","slug":"backstory-the-story-behind-chris-orcutts-the-man-the-myth-the-legend","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/backstory-the-story-behind-chris-orcutts-the-man-the-myth-the-legend\/","title":{"rendered":"Backstory: The Story Behind Chris Orcutt\u2019s The Man, The Myth, The Legend"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/a>Between 2010 and 2011, I wrote over thir\u00adty short sto\u00adries, many of which appeared in The Man, The Myth, The Leg\u00adend<\/em> or as chap\u00adters of the nov\u00adel One Hun\u00addred Miles from Man\u00adhat\u00adtan<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Back when I was writ\u00ading them, I was still pur\u00adsu\u00ading pub\u00adli\u00adca\u00adtion for them in mag\u00ada\u00adzines, includ\u00ading what I then con\u00adsid\u00adered the cr\u00e8me de la cr\u00e8me <\/em>of mag\u00ada\u00adzines, the New York\u00ader<\/em>. I would write a draft of a sto\u00adry, let it sit in a draw\u00ader for a few weeks, revise it, let it sit again, revise it again, and sub\u00admit it. Alas, the New York\u00ader <\/em>nev\u00ader did pub\u00adlish any of them, although they did gra\u00adcious\u00adly send me a few per\u00adson\u00adal rejec\u00adtions that proved some\u00adone had at least read the sto\u00adries, enjoyed them and giv\u00aden them seri\u00adous con\u00adsid\u00ader\u00ada\u00adtion.<\/p>\n

But I digress. Let me tell you about the mag\u00adi\u00adcal spring and sum\u00admer of 2010, dur\u00ading which I wrote the bulk of the sto\u00adries in The Man, The Myth, The Leg\u00adend<\/em>. I couldn\u2019t stop com\u00ading up with ideas. I would wake in the mid\u00addle of the night and have to go out to the liv\u00ading room so I could scrib\u00adble out whole pas\u00adsages that poured out of me.<\/p>\n

The char\u00adac\u00adters\u2019 voic\u00ades, the sit\u00adu\u00ada\u00adtions, the sto\u00adry concepts\u2014everything came to me com\u00adplete, ful\u00adly formed. Indeed, for most of the sto\u00adries in The Man, The Myth, The Leg\u00adend<\/em>, there were very few changes between the first draft and the final, pub\u00adlished sto\u00adry. Ulti\u00admate\u00adly I con\u00adsid\u00ader these sto\u00adries to be a tri\u00adumph of voice; the voice of each nar\u00adra\u00adtor is clear, dis\u00adtinct and com\u00adpelling.<\/p>\n

Around the time that I was writ\u00ading the sto\u00adries, the \u201cmash-up\u201d hack author Seth Gra\u00adhame-Smith was mak\u00ading some noise because he\u2019d either just released Pride and Prej\u00adu\u00addice and Zom\u00adbies<\/em>, or it\u2019d been announced that it was being made into a movie. This incensed me. First of all, the notion that this clown had had a best\u00adseller using a sto\u00adry and char\u00adac\u00adters that weren\u2019t his<\/em>, and that the orig\u00adi\u00adnal author, Jane Austen, had been com\u00adplete\u00adly unknown when she died, filled me with bile. And that\u2019s when the idea for my sto\u00adry \u201cThe Mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent Mur\u00adphy\u201d came to me. Fueled by hatred for this idiot, I wrote the first draft of \u201cThe Mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent Mur\u00adphy\u201d in one day\u2014all 5,000-some-odd words.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Hav\u00ading read F. Scott Fitzgerald\u2019s The Great Gats\u00adby<\/em> over two dozen times, I had an instinc\u00adtive feel for the dic\u00adtion, syn\u00adtax and sen\u00adtence rhythms of the book. I start\u00aded to think, \u201cWhat if the nar\u00adra\u00adtor, Nick Car\u00adraway, hung out with some\u00adone else besides Gats\u00adby, Tom and Daisy that sum\u00admer, and what if this some\u00adone else was the orig\u00adi\u00adnal \u201cmash-up\u201d nov\u00adel\u00adist, a guy named Mar\u00adtin Michaels-Mur\u00adphy?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

In col\u00adlege, I had known a poseur, a would-be \u201cwriter\u201d who had once, ges\u00adtic\u00adu\u00adlat\u00ading in a caf\u00e9 with an unlit pipe and while wear\u00ading a turtle\u00adneck and a tweed jack\u00adet with elbow patch\u00ades, said to me, \u201cChris\u2026I\u2019m a writer. You seem like a sen\u00adsi\u00adtive fel\u00adlow. You should be a writer, too.\u201d<\/p>\n

He said this not know\u00ading that I already was<\/em> a writer, that I wrote for the school mag\u00ada\u00adzine, that I\u2019d writ\u00adten sto\u00adries since I was 12 years old; but when he per\u00adsuad\u00aded me and a pret\u00adty Jew\u00adish girl I was pur\u00adsu\u00ading at the time to come back to his apart\u00adment (where he showed us scads of God-awful Ital\u00adian son\u00adnets that he had print\u00aded out in cur\u00adsive font and taped to the plas\u00adter walls), I resolved to one day lam\u00adpoon him in lit\u00ader\u00ada\u00adture.<\/p>\n

Which I most will\u00ading\u00adly, and most scathing\u00adly, did with\u00adal, in \u201cThe Mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent Mur\u00adphy.\u201d The char\u00adac\u00adter of Mur\u00adphy lives on the oth\u00ader side of Gatsby\u2019s prop\u00ader\u00adty, and the sto\u00adry, told from Nick Carraway\u2019s POV like Gats\u00adby<\/em>, is about the adven\u00adtures Nick has that sum\u00admer with Mur\u00adphy. I\u2019m proud of this sto\u00adry. When I\u2019ve reread it, I\u2019ve found it so good that it\u2019s hard for me to believe that I wrote it. With cer\u00adtain sen\u00adtences, I just know I nailed<\/em> the voice of Nick Car\u00adraway:<\/p>\n

Ear\u00adly in my res\u00adi\u00addence at the mean lit\u00adtle bun\u00adga\u00adlow that quaked in the shad\u00adow of Gats\u00adby\u2019s man\u00adsion like a tick beneath a Burmese ele\u00adphant\u2026<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

As I said ear\u00adli\u00ader, every\u00adwhere I went that spring and sum\u00admer, and every\u00adthing I did, inspired anoth\u00ader sto\u00adry. My wife and Muse, Alexas, and I were in the gro\u00adcery store cere\u00adal aisle one evening when I got the idea for \u201cSev\u00aden Whole Grains on a Mis\u00adsion\u2122.\u201d There was almost no Kashi cere\u00adal on the shelves, about which I remarked, \u201cWhat is this, the Sovi\u00adet Union?\u201d\u2014to which my bril\u00adliant wife said, \u201cHmm\u2026they\u2019re prob\u00ada\u00adbly busy out try\u00ading to find that elu\u00adsive eighth grain.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Alexas\u2019s words hit me like a thun\u00adder\u00adclap. I stood dumb\u00adfound\u00aded in the aisle for sev\u00ader\u00adal min\u00adutes as the entire sto\u00adry of a James Bond-like Glob\u00adal Grain Explor\u00ader (GGE7) played in my head. He trekked through the moun\u00adtains of Pak\u00adistan and Afghanistan try\u00ading to find the mys\u00adte\u00adri\u00adous, super-salu\u00adbri\u00adous, and pos\u00adsi\u00adbly apoc\u00adryphal, \u201cspillit\u201d grain. I pulled out my pock\u00adet Mole\u00adsk\u00adine note\u00adbook and wrote the open\u00ading lines of the sto\u00adry right there in the aisle, and I fin\u00adished the first draft of it the next day. My favorite sen\u00adtence in the sto\u00adry comes dur\u00ading the cli\u00admax:<\/p>\n

Their body parts were dashed across the field like explod\u00aded bits of the ripe real straw\u00adber\u00adries in our TLC soft-baked cere\u00adal bars.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Anoth\u00ader of my favorite sto\u00adries in The Man, The Myth, The Leg\u00adend<\/em>, \u201cThe Man Behind the Signs,\u201d also came to me when I was with my Alexas. She was dri\u00adving us into work one morn\u00ading, and we passed through a con\u00adstruc\u00adtion zone. I remarked about one of the signs, say\u00ading, \u201cYou know\u2026some\u00adbody<\/em> writes those things. What about a sto\u00adry from the POV of a road sign engi\u00adneer<\/em>?\u201d When Alexas chuck\u00adled, I knew I had a win\u00adning idea, and as soon as I got to my spot in the Vas\u00adsar Library, I start\u00aded writ\u00ading the sto\u00adry.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Gener\u00adic \u201cLOST DOG\u201d poster.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Dog\u00adcatch\u00ader\u201d came to me after hav\u00ading seen a ton of \u201cLOST DOG\u201d fly\u00aders around East\u00adern Dutchess Coun\u00adty for some rea\u00adson. I thought about all of these dogs lost out there, and the fact that many of these dogs came from upscale Mill\u00adbrook. Then I thought about how com\u00admu\u00adni\u00adties used to hire dog\u00adcatch\u00aders, and then I thought about how much I loved the voiceover nar\u00adra\u00adtion in my favorite noir movies, and I imag\u00adined this neo-noir inde\u00adpen\u00addent dog\u00adcatch\u00ader out there, find\u00ading the dogs of wealthy peo\u00adple and mak\u00ading big bucks doing it.<\/p>\n

A cou\u00adple years ear\u00adli\u00ader, while foist\u00ading a bunch of Thomas Kinkade \u201cpaint\u00adings\u201d on a Ver\u00admont cou\u00adple that owned a B&B, I had writ\u00adten the open\u00ading pas\u00adsage and part of a scene with the wealthy, beau\u00adti\u00adful dame \u201cclient,\u201d so all I had to do was dig out that note\u00adbook and con\u00adtin\u00adue the sto\u00adry. My favorite pas\u00adsage in the sto\u00adry is its open\u00ading:<\/p>\n

It was one of those mid-Octo\u00adber after\u00adnoons in the Hud\u00adson Val\u00adley when the foliage is so bril\u00adliant it hurts your eyes. I wore Armani sun\u00adglass\u00ades and, with the snap in the air, my Orvis leather flight jack\u00adet. Back in my clos\u00adet I had a great suit\u2014a Hick\u00adey Free\u00adman that cost me two grand\u2014but in this busi\u00adness, first impres\u00adsions are every\u00adthing, and the worn leather jack\u00adet says you\u2019ll stick<\/span>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I\u2019m not exact\u00adly sure how \u201cThe Lost Dis\u00adpatch\u00ades of Gen\u00ader\u00adal George B. McClel\u00adlan\u201d came to me. I know that I stum\u00adbled upon a copy of McClellan\u2019s auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy, and when I read sec\u00adtions in it, I was simul\u00adta\u00adne\u00adous\u00adly amazed and hor\u00adri\u00adfied by McClellan\u2019s pom\u00adpos\u00adi\u00adty and self-decep\u00adtion. I thought to myself, \u201cWhat if these telegrams and let\u00adters were just the tip of the ice\u00adberg? What if the real\u00adly crazy stuff had been hid\u00adden all these years, and a sto\u00adry revealed these <\/em>lost dis\u00adpatch\u00ades?\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n

Like with \u201cThe Mag\u00adnif\u00adi\u00adcent Mur\u00adphy,\u201d I was astound\u00aded by how eas\u00adi\u00adly I was able to adopt McClellan\u2019s voice\u2014after read\u00ading only a small por\u00adtion of his maun\u00adder\u00ading and oth\u00ader\u00adwise for\u00adget\u00adtable auto\u00adbi\u00adog\u00adra\u00adphy. Here is my favorite sen\u00adtence from the fin\u00adished sto\u00adry (McClel\u00adlan writ\u00ading to Pres\u00adi\u00addent Lin\u00adcoln):<\/p>\n

As you can imag\u00adine, Sir, bacon is the coin of the realm in these parts.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The last sto\u00adry in the col\u00adlec\u00adtion I\u2019ll men\u00adtion here is \u201cThe Last Great White Hunter.\u201d For a few weeks pri\u00ador to writ\u00ading it, I was read\u00ading a bunch of \u201carm\u00adchair safari\u201d books for some rea\u00adson (not sure why; it was hot that sum\u00admer and I was wear\u00ading a safari jack\u00adet most days), includ\u00ading Robert Ruark\u2019s clas\u00adsic, Use Enough Gun<\/em>. I began to seek out a genre: the African safari spoof. Dis\u00adcov\u00ader\u00ading there was no such genre, I decid\u00aded to write it.<\/p>\n

I envi\u00adsioned the first part of the sto\u00adry being told by a deep-voiced omni\u00adscient nar\u00adra\u00adtor (like Anchor\u00adman<\/em> nar\u00adra\u00adtor Bill Kur\u00adtis). In the open\u00ading, the nar\u00adra\u00adtor relates the leg\u00adend of Buck Rem\u00ading\u00adton, after which the sto\u00adry slides into Buck\u2019s POV. Sud\u00adden\u00adly a pas\u00adsage came to me, a pas\u00adsage that I want etched on my grave\u00adstone (or on a plaque, if I get my wish and my ash\u00ades are entombed in the floor of Vassar\u2019s Thomp\u00adson Library a la<\/em> West\u00admin\u00adster Abbey) as my own epi\u00adtaph:<\/p>\n

What kind of a man was he?
\nMore than a man\u2019s man, that\u2019s for sure.
\nHe was a man\u2019s man\u2019s man.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

I love all the sto\u00adries in this col\u00adlec\u00adtion, and although the sto\u00adry behind \u201cThe Boot\u00adleg\u00adger,\u201d for exam\u00adple, is anoth\u00ader inter\u00adest\u00ading one (my pater\u00adnal grand\u00adfa\u00adther, who, for a short time boot\u00adlegged whiskey from Cana\u00adda, was the inspi\u00adra\u00adtion for this char\u00adac\u00adter), I won\u2019t dis\u00adcuss it in detail here.<\/p>\n

Joe\u2019s lit\u00adi\u00adga\u00adtor head\u00adshot.<\/p><\/div>\n

On May 23, 2018, an ardent fan of these sto\u00adries died. My father-in-law, Joseph Kuban\u00adcik, had been a fan of my books going back 20 years, when I came out with my first nov\u00adel, Nick Chase\u2019s Great Escape<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Joe had a great sense of humor and a ter\u00adrif\u00adic wit. Ear\u00adly on in my courtship of his daugh\u00adter, Joe and I dis\u00adcov\u00adered that we shared a love of movies and Sher\u00adlock Holmes lore. His favorite movie was Field of Dreams<\/em>, and his favorite singer-song\u00adwriter was Har\u00adry Chapin.<\/p>\n

Joe had kept all of my books (along with those of only one oth\u00ader author) on a shelf in his bed\u00adroom. Know\u00ading how much he enjoyed these sto\u00adries, and know\u00ading he was dying, back in ear\u00adly May I changed the book ded\u00adi\u00adca\u00adtion to him:<\/p>\n

For Joseph Kuban\u00adcik,
\nan ardent fan of these sto\u00adries
\nand the rarest of men:
\nA kind father-in-law,
\nA lov\u00ading father,
\nAn hon\u00adest lawyer,
\nAnd a good human being.
\nBefore you fade into the corn\u00adfield,
\nknow that you will be remem\u00adbered.
\nThank you, Joe.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Fol\u00adlow\u00ading is the obit\u00adu\u00adary I wrote for Joe:<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Joe Kuban\u00adcik, 1965, in his Jaguar con\u00advert\u00adible, on his way to Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia.<\/p><\/div>\n

Joseph J. Kuban\u00adcik, a dis\u00adtin\u00adguished Bay Area lit\u00adi\u00adga\u00adtor for 35 years, died at his Oak\u00adland, CA home on May 23 after a short ill\u00adness. He was 73.<\/p>\n

Born March 20, 1945 in Cleve\u00adland, OH, Kuban\u00adcik grad\u00adu\u00adat\u00aded from St. Joseph\u2019s High School in 1963. A Viet\u00adnam vet\u00ader\u00adan, he served in the U.S. Air Force in Ankra, Turkey and Da Nang, Viet\u00adnam. He was hon\u00ador\u00adably dis\u00adcharged in 1967, after which he attend\u00aded the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of San Fran\u00adcis\u00adco, grad\u00adu\u00adat\u00ading in 1970.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Joe, late 1960s\u2013early 1970s, about to hit the waves.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kuban\u00adcik received his J.D. law degree from Gold\u00aden Gate Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty, where he was also edi\u00adtor of the law review, and his L.L.M. degree from the Uni\u00adver\u00adsi\u00adty of Texas Austin. He was admit\u00adted to the State Bar of Cal\u00adi\u00adfor\u00adnia in 1974, and became an accom\u00adplished civ\u00adil lit\u00adi\u00adga\u00adtor.<\/p>\n

Beyond his work as an attor\u00adney, Kuban\u00adcik was most proud of being a father to his three daugh\u00adters. Whether dri\u00adving them to dance rehearsals or swim meets, build\u00ading the\u00adatre sets or cab\u00adins at their sum\u00admer camp, or work\u00ading in retire\u00adment for his eldest daugh\u00adter at Every Dog Has Its Day\u00adcare in Oak\u00adland, CA, he was active\u00adly involved in their per\u00adson\u00adal, cre\u00adative and pro\u00adfes\u00adsion\u00adal pur\u00adsuits.<\/p>\n

<\/a>

Joe, mid-1980s, pos\u00ading with pick\u00adaxe and watch chain, in front of the retain\u00ading wall he built.<\/p><\/div>\n

Kuban\u00adcik, who donat\u00aded his body to the USCF med\u00adical school, is sur\u00advived by his three daugh\u00adters, Mis\u00adcha Arp of San Fran\u00adcis\u00adco, CA; Alexas Orcutt of Mill\u00adbrook, NY; and Kather\u00adine Cul\u00adhi of San Diego, CA.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Between 2010 and 2011, I wrote over thir\u00adty short sto\u00adries, many of which appeared in The Man, The Myth, The Leg\u00adend or as chap\u00adters of\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":8150,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"wp_typography_post_enhancements_disabled":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[30,4,19,75,364,77,7,39,43,14,233],"tags":[486,487,485,484,131,489,488,483,482,480,479,476,490,481,478,477],"class_list":["post-8136","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-chris-orcutt-books","category-favebooks","category-fiction","category-memoir","category-memoirs","category-novels","category-personal","category-short-stories","category-the-man-the-myth-the-legend","category-writingexperiences","category-writing-life","tag-book-dedication","tag-chapin","tag-dedication","tag-fan","tag-fiction-2","tag-field-of-dreams","tag-harry-chapin","tag-joseph-kubancik","tag-kubancik","tag-legendary-men","tag-legends","tag-mml","tag-people-will-come-ray","tag-short-fiction","tag-short-stories","tag-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8136","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8136"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8136\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8154,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8136\/revisions\/8154"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8150"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8136"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8136"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/orcutt.net\/weblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8136"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}