Shaun Micallef’s novel Preincarnate is due from Hardie Grant Books in November. Dani Soloman, who reviewed the book for the August issue of Bookseller+Publisher magazine, spoke to the comedian about his first—and, he says, last—novel.
Preincarnation, the concept of a character being reborn backwards in time, is a relatively unusual topic to tackle, even in the world of sci-fi and fantasy. What was it about this topic that appealed to you?
I’m pleased to hear it’s not well trammeled territory. Because I’m not a real sci-fi buff, I was half expecting it to end up being a standard trope in the genre that I had unwittingly stumbled into, thinking it a fresh field; like my theory immediately following 9/11 that the terrorists had chosen the date because they wanted everyone who would ever ring 911 to be reminded of the attack. I thought I was the only one who’d thought of this and was most disappointed when I found out that it had already occurred to half the world’s population.
I think the thing that appealed to me most about the premise to Preincarnate was not so much being reborn in an earlier body, but being able to prevent your own death. It’s not so much a who-dunnit as a why-dunnit or how-dunnit.
You revealed some of your comedy influences in your show Good Evening: The Sketches of Peter Cook and Dudley Moore. What are your literary influences?
I tell everyone I’m very influenced by S J Perelman and Robert Louis Stevenson, but this is just to sound posh. I’m really influenced by Spike Milligan (Puckoon), Norman Hunter (Professor Branstawm), John Kennedy Toole, A P Herbert, Tom Sharpe, Hunter S Thompson and Douglas Adams.
This is not your first book. Smithereens, a collection of poems, essays and sketches, is alas no longer available. Do you see yourself writing more in the future?
No, that’s it. I only had the one novel in me so you better enjoy Preincarnate because that’s all there is.
Preincarnate starts off with a very interesting, almost L Ron Hubbard-esque theory on the beginning of earth and what happens to the human soul before and after life. In fact, one could be forgiven for thinking you might be following in the footsteps of the Scientology founder. If you were to start your own religion, what would your first decree be and who would be your chosen one?
I’d bring back Latin for a start. When I was at school, I had to study it in Year 9. And then the next year they dropped it from the curriculum. No-one had to study it anymore. I figure this is a waste of a year and I’d like to think I could issue an encyclical forcing people to speak it. And not just at Mass either; I mean in every day speech.
My chosen one would be Isabella Rosselini.
Dani Soloman is a bookseller at Readings Carlton. Her review of Preincarnate appeared in the August 2010 issue of Bookseller+Publisher.
| Tweet |
