The Devil You Know
by Poppy Z. Brite
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Book Summary Information
Author: Poppy Z. BriteEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2005-08
ISBN: 1887368779
Number of pages: 173
Publisher: Gauntlet Press
Book Reviews of The Devil You Know
Book Review: The Many Sides of Today's Poppy Z Brite
Summary: 5 Stars
Poppy's latest short story collection is arguably also her most eclectic in terms of subject matter and tone. Perhaps this eclecticism isn't surprising considering these stories were written during a period when Poppy was beginning to tire of and turn away from the horror genre and began heading in her newer direction in which she seeks to depict New Orleans as she has really experienced it, rather than perpetuating what she sees as the silly stereotypes about her hometown. Poppy provides an interesting discussion of this life-changing literary metamorphosis in the introduction of TDYK.
In response to a question from a reader, Poppy observed in a recent blog entry that her prose style has changed more noticeably over time than has her voice as an author. I agree. When I was reading one of the first stories, the thought hit me: "I can tell Poppy wrote this. It just SOUNDS like her." Yes, I recognized her style, but what I was reading actually felt like it came from her. While I think it is true that her so-called more ornate "purple prose" has given way for a "cleaner, simpler style" (review blurb on backcover), Poppy still retains an amazing ability through her prose for both providing vivid, poetic description and for setting and maintaining a mood. Also, it's worth noting that Poppy has a wonderful ear for dialogue as demonstrated in these stories.
Although Poppy's voice has largely remained more constant over time, one very noticeable change has been the increased use of humor in her fiction. One reason why I've enjoyed reading her blog was because it was so obvious she has a sense of humor. A lot of times she's made me laugh right out loud. This is curious since in the pre-Liquor era fiction of Poppy's I've read, I don't really remember her making much use of humor. And I doubt that it was until she was in her early thirties that Poppy suddenly got a sense a humor! But apparently it wasn't until rather recently that her humor really started showing up in her work.
And thank God it has! Because it has really added a neat dimension to her writing. There were many points in her novels Liquor and Prime where I laughed out loud. And so too with the story "Pansu", which is a must read for my fellow fans of The Exorcist. Although Poppy does make a serious point about New Orleans society in the story "The Devil You Know", the high jinks of one of its characters keep you smiling through the story. I also enjoyed the dark humor in "Marisol" in which Poppy is able to take fictional revenge on a type of person who populates the local restaurant scene and who she dislikes in real life.
"Marisol" is also one of the three Doc Brite stories contained in this collection. Doc Brite is Poppy's fictional alter ego-a Wild Turkey drinking, Head Coroner for the city of New Orleans. Poppy is a fan of some mystery writers, and these stories are apparently her answer to the coroner/investigator genre. Like "Marisol", "O Death, Where is Thy Spatula?" was inspired by a real event in Poppy's life, and this story could be seen as a kind of despondent real life wishing via fiction. Although this story does include elements of the spooky New Orleans kind of story that Poppy now tries to avoid, it is an effective horror story that is not hackneyed in the least. In addition, the real life emotion that inspired this story fills it with a fire it might not have had if it had just been inspired by an interesting idea. For me, "The Heart of New Orleans" is the easily the creepiest of all the Doc Brite stories, and of those contained in this collection, for that matter. I wonder if it what makes "Heart" and another horror story "Lantern Marsh" so effective is the fact that Poppy keeps a real sense of mystery surrounding the supernatural elements in these stories, thereby adding to the creepiness factor. After all, what makes something scary is sometimes what you don't know. Indeed, both of the these stories also made me think about think what makes much of Poppy's horror fiction so effective is her considerable skill in being able to evoke and sustain a mood. "Lantern Marsh", a story that first saw print in an anthology of Halloween stories, evokes the mystery and magic this holiday holds for us-especially when we're young kids.
In "Nothing of Him That Doth Fade", we see a more mature Poppy at work in that I doubt a story like this could have been written by somebody who hadn't been around the block a time or two. This story chronicles a couple experiencing problems in their relationship who are desperate to make things work. The terror in this story comes from this couple's fear of being without each other after so many years together, and their fear is the possibility that their relationship might not salvageable. Really this story reminds me in both mood and theme of the lyrics to Joy Division's seminal song "Love Will Tear Us Apart".
If you're a fan of the fictional world of Poppy's Liquor novels, then chances are you'll be delighted with the two Liquor-related stories included in this volume. In addition to me liking to be able to reenter a fictional world that I already know and am interested in, I think both of these stories are able to stand by themselves both in terms of storyline and quality. In "Bayou De La Mere", Rickey and G-man go on a little vacation, during the narrative of which Poppy makes interesting use of religious imagery in order to make a certain point about our society. The last sentence of this story is not only very eloquent, but it's one of the most effective endings to a short story that I've ever read. "A Season In Heck" might be called a coming of age-type story, which chronicles the events surrounding a young man who comes to work at Liquor. I also really liked Poppy's use of humor in this story.
Poppy has occasionally written "on spec" for others, most notably her novel The Crow: The Lazarus Heart and her biography of Courtney Love. Poppy has commented that she doesn't see the two above pieces as part of her actual body of work in the same way her totally original fiction is, but rather was a way for her to earn extra money so she could do some traveling and write short stories.
Her latest collection also contains two stories that she was contracted to write in which she makes use of the fictional worlds and characters of others as a jumping off point to create some interesting fiction of her own. In "Burn, Baby, Burn", Poppy writes about Liz Sherman, a pyrokinetic character from Mike Mignola's comic Hellboy. (This character and her backstory reminds me-at least superficially-as kind of an older version of Charlie McGee from Stephen King's novel Firestarter.) In this story, one can identify familiar Poppy motifs such as cooking and restaurants, and using characters from very diverse backgrounds in terms of sexuality and race. In "System Freeze", Poppy does an interesting take on the world of Matrix. I really liked her interesting use of symbolism regarding the men in the black suits. Both stories also showcase Poppy's talent for interesting storytelling.
Speaking of using the fiction worlds of others as inspiration, just as Poppy based her story "His Mouth Will Taste of Wormwood" (from her first short story collection) on the H.P. Lovecraft story "The Hound", Poppy makes use of certain Greek myth in "The Ocean", a story chronicling a day in the life of a famous rock star. It seemed to me like Poppy used a part of this Greek myth in order to make this story an allegory about the high price of fame. You wonder if Poppy feels like the main character of this story at times.
The only story in this collection that threw me for a loop was "Poivre" because I was confused by what it was supposed to be. Was it a piece of fiction? Was it autobiographical account? After reading her foreword in which Poppy discusses each of her stories, I understood what her intention was. Don't get me wrong-I think it's beautifully written, but it just didn't really strike a chord with me. For me I thought this story would have been a lot more effective if she would have extended the "Bad Restaurant Curse" section to include the same kind of funny examples like she provided in Chapter 16 of Liquor. Maybe that would have given more context for the world from which this story springs.
Poppy has said that she thinks this collection is her best yet, and she might very well be right. Poppy is a very talented storyteller and prose stylist who has continued to grow and improve over the years, as witnessed by this collection. At the very least this volume is a very strong collection containing many good stories. If you're like me and you like both Poppy's older work in horror and you like her newer realistic restaurant-themed fiction as well, then you'll definitely enjoy this collection. Five Stars.
Summary of The Devil You Know
THE DEVIL YOU KNOW is a tradepaperback edition of the sold-out limited edition of Poppy's latest short story collection.In her third short story collection, Poppy Z. Brite finds fresh ways of exploring territory both familiar and strange. Here you?ll meet the Devil and his giant cat last seen in the pages of Bulgakov, the gourmand coroner of New Orleans, the mad-genius chef who can?t stand to have his cheese list criticized, and an assortment of Crescent City characters who also appear in Brite?s novels Liquor and Prime.
Poppy Z. Brite has found a way of writing about New Orleans that bypasses the clichés and approaches the city?s true heart: the hard-working, hard-partying cooks; the ways in which race, class, and sexual orientation do and don?t matter; the love of bottom feeders, be they crustaceans or politicos; the million little juxtapositions of sacred and profane, bizarre and mundane, sublime and ridiculous that make up the everyday life of New Orleans. Some of these stories are set elsewhere, but Brite always returns home in the end.
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