Fanfare! Stalking the Bogeyman

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Octopus Messiah

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If anyone lives in NYC:
Stalking the Bogeyman just opened off-Broadway to rave reviews, based on a the true-life story of David Holthouse who tracked down his childhood rapist with designs on murder.

Days before he put his plan to action his mother found his childhood notebook and destroyed his alibi. So instead, he arranged to meet the bastard and wrote an article on the experience which he later read to a million+ listeners on This American Life. The original story can be found here: http://www.westword.com/2004-05-13/news/stalking-the-bogeyman/

What makes the StB beautiful is that it's not your typical Gladiator revenge story bullshit. It's a story on being stopped on the brink of revenge/nausea/prison by love and reclaiming your humanity in no small part through writing.

Over 20 years ago David was the guy who inspired me to write . We started a college newspaper at UC Santa Cruz that is still going today (the Fish Rap Live). Back then he had a serious death wish and threw himself into every story. Covering the nascent crystal meth scene in Phoenix. Getting chased by the Crips. Tackling shady politicians and later going undercover within the white power movement for the SPLC (one of my proudest moments? I helped shave his head! That was a good party) In my subjective opinion, dude is the best writer you've never heard of and represents one of the last bastions of the gonzo spirit. He is also my best man, best friend and hero. And unlike Sarah Palin, he doesn't need to use his gun to be a true Alaska badass!

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I remember sitting in a car with him in Denver in 2002 when the glove box fell open and there was the gun. Big fucking chrome-plated Ruger. I told him I hated the thing and why'd he have to bring it to the gym. He deadpanned, "Did I ever tell you I was raped when I was 8?" I'd known him over a decade by this point but this was the first I'd heard of it and said so. He told me the guy who did it lived just down the road and that he was going to shoot him in the balls, look him in the eye then, "bang-bang, lights out." In shock I told him I didn't think that was such a good idea...

If anyone's interested, he was recently a guest on Litopia After Dark (Bullets on the Brain)

And again, if you live in NY or are passing through, please do go and see the play!
 
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Will share/tweet. Bless your friend, David. Very brave to admit it, and entirely human for him to want to blow such a dangerous assailant away. I was so relieved to read his mother took action as soon as she knew; some parents refuse to face such things, compounding injustice and adding betrayal. Her grief, I imagine, will be very great. Perhaps, by her response, could she have lanced his own just a little? Thinking of the cat, too, and Hogarth's 'Stages of Cruelty,' my bad; I unenlightenedly hope karma/the law blocks that self-pitying predator before he can be overcome by his next overpowering impulse. Perhaps David's 'pen' /book/play will act in this case at least, as a sufficient sword. All the best to him with it.
 
Thanks for that Katie and for spreading the word. As a friend I'm concerned about him being defined by this story-- he's become an unexpected spokesman against child rape since the story came out. But dude has risen to the challenge and has given so many people the courage to come forward with their stories. Mom is torn between being immensely proud and, as you say, griefstricken. She never knew about the incident because he protected her against what happened for more than twenty years (until she found his journal in the attic). Hell I can't even touch this topic w/o misting up and I strike fear in the hearts of men and beasts alike:). Over the years Holthouse has been this kind of embodiment of 'write what you know' in that he's put himself in, or been subject to, so many intense situations his writing can't help but be compelling. This is another of my faves (ten years b4 Breaking Bad): 72 Hour Party People
 
Thanks for that link, Sir Octopus. :) You are so right, he'd be wise to resist becoming defined by it. I know people who have never truly escaped; they have become too invested. As was said previously, this was a truly vile bit of shit, asking to be scraped off his shoe. To be well and happy is the best revenge.
 
Fascinating story; much positive out of pain. Hope the show does well. You seen it? Coming to UK?
 
Ali: would love for the show to come to the UK! Need to see how it does off Broadway-- we were hoping to go but then real life interfered by way of necessary but pimped-out renovations to the domicile. Dave is back in Alaska now and we're all quietly hoping someone picks the story up and makes a film. I've talked to the director a few times who really seems to care not only about the story but about the man himself. Dave's always been a man of few (spoken) words but he's become a touchstone for people similarly abused and the story has brought him well out of his shell. Super guy.
 
and once this **** goes Hollywood/West End London, dude's coming on again-- if not before!
 
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Fanfare! Night Moves accepted!!

Book Review: Bob Beagrie,Modern Bard: The Seer Sung Husband

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