In the first book of this series (The Smiths are next), 21 American
and British authors were asked to pick a Sonic Youth song and write a
short story inspired by its title. No rules. Some authors chose to
evoke the band’s dissonance and chaotic noise in their language, or to
play on lyrics, while others use the title as a springboard for plots
that have as much to do with Britney Spears as they do Sonic Youth.
Rebecca Godfrey may have drawn from her experiences writing about
the Reena Virk murder in “shadow of a doubt,” a non-stop teenage
confession to a journalist investigating a horrific crime. Katherine
Dunn’s “that’s all I know (right now)” has neighbours casually debating
the origins of a severed hand found in a park. Violence appears
often—a common response to loud feedback? The weakest stories are
non-fan Scott Mebus’ “bull in the heather,” where a lesbian buys a
strap-on to save her relationship with bisexual Heather (the dildo is
called “The Bull”) and Shelley Jackson’s “my friend goo,” which tries
too hard to be abstract.
Use Noise as an intro to new authors or as an excuse to
listen to an old band. And musicians, remember that a song title can
spawn a thousand words.
This article appears in Jan 15-21, 2009.