Mary Gaitskill in Metro Detroit

Ah, the mystery. Gaitskill's latest, Veronica, is a beautiful elegiac novel narrated from multiple vantage points. Like all of her writing, it's complex and, truth be told, strange. The book cover immediately reminds me of Edie Sedgwick on the DVD cover of Ciao Manhattan! (1972), and indeed, characters in Veronica could have intersected Edie's world of fashion and Warholian pop art. I'm guessing this was a conscious design decision.

Gaitskill lived for many of her younger years in the Detroit area. Exactly where is, so far, difficult to track down. She is an elusive person. Some of her fiction is set locally, but beyond that, her time here is like that of shadowy ghost. I've done some research using reference databases like Thomson Gale's Contemporary Authors Online, Wikipedia, and across the internet, and have found conflicting information. For example, in CA Online (last updated on January 3, 2006), her birthdate is November 11, 1954; in Wikipedia as of today, it's given as August 24, 1954. Originally from Lexington, Kentucky (so it would seem), she moved with her parents to Michigan when she was young. How young, I'm not certain, but it is a fact that many people from Kentucky migrated to "Downriver" Detroit in the twentieth century; Taylor, one of that area's little suburban entities, is so full of Kentuckians that it's nicknamed "Taylortucky."

In the past, I've read that Gaitskill attended a local community college before transferring to the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor (where she graduated in 1981: at age 26 or 27). What of the "lost years"? She "ran away" from home for part of that time, but what interests me is figuring out which school she attended before U of M. The most likely candidates have to be Wayne County Community College, Macomb Community College, and Oakland Commmunity College. Eventually, the truth will out; she has written enough influential stories and novels to make this biographical information an interesting matter.

Gaitskill's writing is usually dark, disturbing, and sometimes very funny. College students take easily to her story "Tiny, Smiling Daddy;" many relate to the conflicting family dynamics that undergird the narrative. My personal favorite is the hilarious but deeply sad story "Daisy's Valentine," from Gaitskill's excellent collection Bad Behavior, which also includes "Secretary," later adapted into a movie. "Secretary" mentions Eight Mile and Telegraph Road, very specific references to the Detroit area. Also intriguingly, the collection is dedicated to her sisters, Jane and Martha. I wonder where they are now.

Aside from the Disney-only crowd, I recommend a sampling of Gaitskill's work to those who, for example, like HBO. Her writing at the sentence level is quite alluring and impressive. You can look up the publisher details on www.amazon.com and elsewhere, but here is a quick list of her books:

Bad Behavior (1988)
Two Girls, Fat and Thin (1991)
Because They Wanted To (1997)
Veronica (2005)

You can get an idea of what Gaitskill is like as a person by checking out this recent interview: http://www.failbetter.com/2006-1/GaitskillInterview.htm

Yesterday, I met with my pal and former teaching colleague Trent Vanegas (www.pinkisthenewblog.com) in Royal Oak. We had a sit down at Pronto before moving on to Sweetwater's Coffee & Tea (with wireless access) and Incognito, a hip clothing and accessories store complete with very cute Betsey Johnson dresses, Made in Detroit, Pure Detroit and various other designer t-shirts, etc. Not only was it very fun to catch up, it was also extremely helpful in that Trent provided a lot of technical information and fresh ideas for blogging and other mattters. It will be sad to see him move out to L.A., but we will stay in touch, no question. All of us in Metro Detroit will miss him!

Note: Pure Detroit has a cool website: http://www.puredetroitdesignlab.com/

Signing off for now, adieu.