In extrem kurzen Kapiteln folgt der Erzähler seinen Figuren entlang verschiedener legendärer amerikanischer Highways. Das On-the-Road-sein bezieht sich u. a. auf Kerouac und spiegelt sich in aneinandergereihten Erlebnissen in Motels, Diners und Cafés. Manche Figur vollzieht eine Reise in die eigene Vergangenheit, zur nationalen Traumatisierung durch den Vietnamkrieg oder bis in Familiengeschichten aus der Zeit der Eroberung des Wilden Westens. Charakteristische Gerüche und Klänge lassen die Weite ahnen, die einmal wilden Pferden Lebensraum bot. Shephards Übergänge zwischen Wild-West-Legenden und der Wirklichkeit der Gegenwart sind nicht immer sofort zu erkennen.Von Shephard, der Anfang November seinen 70. Geburtstag feiern konnte, wird noch immer behauptet, er verkörpere gern die Rolle des US-amerikanischen Kultur-Cowboys. Seine Kurzprosa war für meinen Geschmack zu kurz, so dass die Persönlichkeit des Autors mich mehr beeindruckt hat als sein literarisches Bild des Wilden Westens. Years ago I was sitting in the kitchen of my old manic kitchen at the postcardesque window of a house somewhere along the lines of halfway house meeting victorian watching the distant trains rush past through the misty midnight to west portal. We were listening to Motown and having a party when my morose roommate came into the kitchen for a glass of water and said something to the effect of, "Right, of course you are all having a good time drinking and smoking and dancing and listening to Motown - you sort of people cannot grasp that we live in a healthier world now and you cannot enjoy simple things and listen to modern music." While she said this to say three out of the ten of us and we never spoke of it again, I never forgot that notion. I forgot her very quickly when I waved goodbye to her at the subway which took her to the airport and stepped back inside into another similiar party. Still, all these years later, her notion never left or leaves my mind when so much modern literature disagrees with me. I enjoy enormous amounts of modern music and film, but with literature I tend to stick to my guns. I feel as if music and film have survived the current technological psychosis, whereas the concentrated alphabetical medium of writing has been on a slow decline lasting several decades. In other words I am generally shocked and particularly inspired when I read recent works which blow my mind.On the trails on a recent breakup I slipped into a depression. When depressed I turn to my favorite films. This time Paris, Texas was on the agenda. After rewatching the Criterion version and all of its extras, I cam to the conclusion that - having already been longtime fans of harry Dean Stanton, Dean Stockwell and Ry Cooder - that I ought to seek out Sam Shepard. I read the Motel Chronicles in college but it was over my head. I could keep going as I felt as if I was just beginning but I have an adventure to attend to. I'll probably update this later, but Day Out of Days is, to me, the best book I've read published in the past ten years without doubt. I am actually shocked it is not more acclaimed. These stories and vignettes are really, really good. Brilliant. Shepard is a master. And to that gal who told me my friends and I were, in so many words, 'Born back ceaselessly into the past' - here's to it.
What do You think about Day Out Of Days (2010)?
This book makes me feel like a crazy. Yikes!Weird cadence, brilliant writing.
—christine
Estranged narrators tell stories from on the road.
—christy
Hope to run into this man on the road some day.
—notsohappyangel
