Parasites and Apocalyptic Tourism- A conversation with author Honest Lewis

 

The first time I met Honest Lewis was in a stairwell of Café Coco in Nashville, Tennessee, he greeting me warmly and asking if I was coming to the Night of Free Speech event, which was about to begin. A few minutes into our conversation I asked, “So where are you from? I can’t place your accent.” Lewis nodded without missing a beat and explained that he had a speech impediment. He could’ve been a horse’s ass about it and I should’ve felt like a horse’s ass, but neither occurred because Honest Lewis is a thoroughly kind soul. Since that time I’ve witnessed his fostering of so many nervous new writers to the public stage and is always sure to give them feedback and encouragement after they’ve descended the platform.

And so not only is Honest Lewis the host and MC of the bi-monthly Night of Free Speech at Logue’s Black Raven Emporium, (also in Nashville) but he along with partner Heather Brothers-McDole have established DNR Publishing. Under the imprint they’ve published Lewis’ work “Parasites”, a tale that falls somewhere between the surrealism of Haruki Murakami and the punk abrasiveness of Maximum Rock and Rock. The plot is about feller named Wade Plumber who since he can’t get the skinny girls he lusts after, secretly feeds overweight women tapeworm eggs until they reach the desired appearance. On top of that, Plumber’s living is made by selling front row tickets to hurricanes and other apoctalypic events to adrenaline junkies.

I recently spoke to Honest Lewis about his book and other matters.

Spun Counterguy: So what prompted you to begin writing Parasites?

Honest Lewis: Well, I’d already written a few other long works and was brainstorming about what my next project should be. And well, I have a tendency to run my mouth, especially when I’m being jokingly mean – and it just kind of went down hill. When it was done rolling down, I was yelling about giving people worms. A few minutes later, I calmed down enough to realize… that I could write a book about that.

SC: I’ve got to ask then, do you know of anyone who has done such a thing, giving parasites to heavyset women?

HL: Beef tapeworms were used as weight loss around the turn of the 19th century. And they’re currently being looked at by EU nations as a method of weight control.

To be completely accurate, the whole idea of ‘fixing someone’s problems’ comes from some of my own experiences dating. From dating girls who were into drugs.

SC: You mean you tried to ‘fix’ them by helping them getting off the drugs?

HL: Yeah. Basically my experiences with that went [like this]: I’d help a girl clean up, and then she’d dump me for a preppy.

So my yelling dirty insults at a friend of mine was mixed up with a lot of ugly relationship baggage.

SC: For a writer to really ‘get into the head’ of a character, they often have to submerge themselves as much as they can into the mindset and lifestyle of that person. When creating the character of Wade Plumber, did you ever fear someone was going to read your book and think ‘Lewis wrote this too well. He IS Wade Plumber!’

HL: I’m not Wade. Wade has some of me in him – but I don’t have any of him in me. Getting inside Wade was tough. It was like method acting. There were periods of work when I was… rather isolated. Physically – due to a few surgeries I underwent while working on it.

It took time to write. To research. To put it all together. I lived inside Wade for over a year. It was unpleasant. Near the end of the book my behavior got quite erratic. I was very glad to finish it. Finally wash Wade off of me.

 

 

Hormone rehabilitation

SC: Without completely spoiling the ending, Wade does become somewhat rehabilitated. We’ve all been selfish pricks from one time to another and at least I found myself sympathizing with Wade, so far down into a hole of his own making that I wanted him to find redemption or at least find a way to walk away from his chosen methods of operation. Do you think someone who’s done the things Wade has done could ever rise above his past actions by other conventional means [therapy, religion, etc.]?

HL: Does he become rehabilitated or does his ‘hormone therapy’ cause him to exhibit those emotional traits that resemble ‘guilt’ ‘remorse’ et al?

That’s a question I’ve examined in another book I’ve written – it’s still in very rough manuscript phase – and the answer to that question is… yeah, you can rise above your past, but you have to get a new identity and move.

If Wade were to go through that process he would simply be acting as he does. There isn’t a redemptive path for someone like that. His deceit has reduced him to a man with zero credibility.

I’ve considered writing a sequel to Parasites – to address that question. Can you go back to a life of honesty after you’ve destroyed your credibility?

I won’t write that unless… there’s a reception to the book that will justify the unpleasantness of living inside of Wade for another year or two.

SC: In this day and age of ‘bug chasers’, Furry conventions and the like, Wade’s apocalyptic tourism trade seems totally feasible. Are you aware of such an organization existing and if not, how did you come up with that concept?

HL: Well, I’ve been aware of bug chasing since 1999. Communities tend to form around perversions and kinks. As for hurricanes, I drove out and hung in a few. Predictable disaster.

SP: Since you’ve published Parasites, what’s the response been so far?

HL: Everyone who has read it has liked it. I’ve not heard anything negative. But I need to sell more books. Get it more out there. Strangers have read it and emailed me positive things. That’s always a big deal to me – getting unsolicited comments.

People who I have sold it to on the street have come up to me weeks later saying things like, “YOU’RE A BAD MOTHERFUCKER!”.

I don’t know what that counts as a response, since it critiques me more than the work.

(Honest Lewis with DNR partner Heather Brothers-McDole)

 

A wise man once said, “In shitty job, there is opportunity”

SC: Talk a little about DNR Publishing. It’s history, mission, future projects, etc.

HL: History, well, we’re trying to get more projects put into it. We’re finishing up some coloring books and a few other items to print under the label. As always the problem with adding more items into it is money. The catch with the money is that I’m not willing to take other ‘input’ in regards to what we do, create, or make. And while that might limit our ‘audience’ or ‘market’ or whatever you want to call it, I rest assured knowing that if only 2000 people buy one of our products it will be the right 2000 people.

And what I mean by products fall into the range of polemic art. Intentionally shocking items built on a solid artistic foundation.

[But] how [DNR] happened. I was working on a writing project that would later become the source for a great deal of the spoken word material I perform. While working on this I had a confrontation with one of the bosses at work – where I asked him how they can straight-faced talk about growing profits when the regular employees benefits increase in cost to the point that we will now make less money this year than the previous. This caused a heated debate to begin with a few hundred employees.

When the boss man was done defending his business practices and worship of the bottom line he said “Be happy – times are tough – You’ve got a job.”

That “You’ve got a job.” became the rally point my partner – Heather Brothers-McDole – and I got behind as we realized that we do have jobs – bad, bad jobs – so we might as well put our pitiful savings and earnings into projects that matter, while living on ramen noodles and cheap beer.

So that’s why we’re doing it. Because we can. Because we don’t have to ask permission. Ever. We can be shocking. And mean. And let it work itself out. Because it will.

So long as we don’t stop doing it.

And that’s why we started doing spoken word/free speech events. To share that feeling – to share the idea that you can create – without restriction or asked permission. You can just do it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

(Some of the crew of A Night of Free Speech)

 

Beer fueled free speech

SC: You swerved into my next question. Can you talk about the Night of Free Speech events? Any favorite moments? Disastrous ones? Fist fights?

HL: My favorite moment is any time someone new does something. It’s a big deal to get up and challenge yourself to a new experience. Can change your life. Seeing people overcome that changes mine.

No, no disasters or fights. The notion of fighting and stuff like that is foreign to the events. It’s a free creative space. Any conflict can be solved by the nature of the event itself. Heck, I argue with people up there – and occasionally lose.

Primitive Men

“Please send help. The outreached hand holds a pistol. A knife. A club. A check book. A business card. Primitive man comes at you with a rock and sharp stick. He’s wearing a shirt with a collar and a tie. Nice shoes too. Primitive man stands there drenched in blood and gore holding a brief case. Primitive man stands there satiated, the flesh of another primitive man stuck between his capped teeth. Damn you look good, primitive man. I wish I looked as good as you. As professional as you. As prepared as you.”

An excerpt from ‘Leviathan’- Honest Lewis

SC: You tend to open the gatherings with your spoken word piece “Primitive Man”, which I think I focus on a different aspect of it’s content every time I hear it. What prompted you to write that?

HL: Well, the piece everyone refers to as ‘Primitive Man’ isn’t titled as such. In actuality it’s a single page out of 200. It just lends itself to being read out-loud. The entire piece is the 2nd in a sequence of more… lyric work I put together. The first part titled Juggernaut, the second, Leviathan. Primitive Man comes from that.

And Leviathan is 200 or so pages of my existential dread, paranoia, misgivings, issues with authority, and extant power structures.

It’s a broken up sequence of plotted narrative events – unlinked characters and settings. There are no ‘names’ in the entire piece.

Like Parasites, I was very glad to finish writing it.

SC: Is this something you hope to publish?

HL: One day I might print a few copies of Leviathan to give to a few friends who have expressed interest in it. But right now, with our finances as they are I can’t eat the loss that’d happen from making something that is as challenging as that piece.

That’s why we put Parasites first – it’s good clean subversive fun.

Nashdigity Skyline

SC: As someone who in a way has a few fingers on the pulse of Nashville’s creative community, is there any kind of unique zeitgeist that you see forming that might set us apart from other regions or time periods?

HL: I love Nashville – we do have a building shaped like Batman – and it’s a city that attracts talented creative people. And that’s where the strength of the city and the scene comes from – it’s many voices coming together.

SC: Writers take up the pen for a variety of reasons. Why do you think you give the endeavor a sizable portion of your time?

HL: Because I believe in the power of the written word. [It] inspires people to change the world.