Page 45 Review by Jonathan
"I worked as a stunt man. I kept fit.
"I'd been on the job for a movie starring Jo Rear.
"I was his stunt double.
"The fantasy was that one day I'd die in an accident. That'd be ideal. No one could blame me.
"I couldn't set something like that up myself, of course.
"All previous attempts to take matter into my own hands had been abject failures.
"I had simply continued on with my life, remaining "open" to accidents.
"Perhaps I'd lose my footing while scaling a skyscraper for the film's opening sequence.
"They'd acknowledge my death with a little note in the credits."
Surprisingly coherent chequebook shaped identity insanity from the mirthful master of the abstract.
Here is the publisher with a script read-through to provide a plot synopsis…
"A stunt double is hired by an actor to serve as his doppelgänger in order to sabotage his career. Seeing your double is often viewed as an ill omen, a portent of bad luck, and a harbinger of death. Hiring a professional double, an actor spurs on his own demise as he and his double explore the depths of degradation and self-destruction."
The unknown stuntman (cue Lee Majors earworm - you're welcome!) assumes the role of the star's life with aplomb, getting into the character of the fabulously named Jo Rear to such a degree that he rapidly become indistinguishable from the man himself, which is merely the first part of Jo's mysterious master plan…
Soon, Colt, let's call him Colt, is standing in during talkshow interviews, red carpet appearances and even intimate dinners with girlfriends, all with a view to wrecking Jo's hitherto carefully curated image. Once that goal is finally achieved, after an initial pique of further rubber-necking public interest in the car-crash course Jo suddenly appears to be taking with his life, events start to get even stranger…
Which, of course, is all perfectly normal for a Michael DeForge story! With an ever burgeoning body of bizarre material building up fast behind him: A BODY BENEATH / A WESTERN WORLD / ANT COLONY / BIG KIDS / BRAT / DRESSING / FIRST YEAR HEALTHY / LEAVING RICHARD'S VALLEY / LOSE / STICKS ANGELICA, FOLK HERO / VERY CASUAL he shows no signs of letting up on his one-man smorgasbord of surreal.
Good.
