By Del Suelo
Published by Your Nickel鈥檚 Worth Publishing
$24.95 ISBN 978-1-927756-50-8
When I began I Am Free, Saskatchewan writer, wanderer and musician Del Suelo鈥檚 鈥渟low-art鈥� project that combines text and an audio CD in a compact hardcover package, I was perplexed. What was this? Autobiography, I surmised.
But by the second essay, or chapter, or linked story, a plot evolved and it began to read more like a novella. Knowing the genre of a text isn鈥檛 critical to its enjoyment, but as both a writer and reviewer I鈥檓 perhaps unfairly keen to 鈥渘ame that genre.鈥� I quickly came to appreciate the blurred lines and the vagueness (ie: we never learn which Saskatchewan city the story is set in), especially as they emulate the dream-like text.
I turned to the author鈥檚 own website ( www.delsuelo.net ) for explication, and learned that Del Suelo (aka Eric Mehlsen) describes the text portion of his mesmerizing book\CD combo as a novel. The CD鈥檚 10 songs correspond to their same-named chapters. In Del Suelo鈥檚 words, 鈥淭he songs and prose lean on each other in a way that together create a sense of depth that I鈥檝e never been able to formulate with either medium.鈥�
Well said, young man.
The first chapter, By Myself, introduces Del Suelo鈥檚 narrator and protagonist 鈥� an urban office worker dissatisfied with his white collar career and uninspired life 鈥� meditating on the tiny cactus he bought on impulse. 鈥淚t took thousands of years for it to become a resilient, symmetrical masterpiece 鈥� and now it sits on display as an ornament in my office.鈥� He walks home through the snowy streets beneath a low-lying sun and observes his surroundings. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a pile of snow-covered leaves in the front yard of one of the houses I pass ...鈥� It鈥檚 non-dramatic, everyday stuff.
Like many of us who live alone, the narrator makes simple meals and plops on the sofa before settling into whatever鈥檚 caught his attention on Netflix. He鈥檚 lonely, and wades into melancholy. And then there鈥檚 an all-night supermarket, a papaya聽 and a girl with a 鈥渧intage lavender jacket with a cheap faux-fur collar,鈥� a lip ring and a counter-culture lifestyle. Hello!
By the end of chapter two I鈥檓 tempted to play the CD to discover what the author鈥檚 created to accompany this text, but no, reading first, then listening. Del Suelo has penned a compelling story. His work is often poetic (ie: deep melancholy is 鈥渓ike the blackened forest after a fire or the ruins of a village after a storm鈥�) and frequently insightful (ie: the narrator smokes because he likes 鈥渢he mild comfort of having something to do with [his] hands.鈥�). The book quietly makes a case against accepting the status quo 鈥� degree, job, home, materialism. It promotes living solely as 鈥渁 human with a heartbeat.鈥�
Then there鈥檚 the music. I played the CD, then played it twice more. Sublime. The author wrote most of the songs, sings them and plays all but drums on each. He also produced the recordings.
I Am Free is some kind of masterpiece. I鈥檓 illumined, Del Suelo. More please.
This book is available at your local bookstore or from www.skbooks.com.
