When I moved to St. Louis, one of the things I quickly got addicted to was Wm. Stage’s “Street Talk” column in the Riverfront Times. I can’t even remember what year it disappeared from the weekly’s pages, but I’ve missed it ever since. Then I started noticing his books; his Pictures of People is one of my favorite titles on the shelf here at work.
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His latest book, Fool for Life, is a bit different; there are no photos. It’s memoirish, or as Stage describes it, a memoir “embellished to the point of fiction.” (Of course, that caveat surely comes in light of the fact that Laura Albert and James Frey ruined it for everyone else; In Cold Blood and many other celebrated “creative nonfiction” titles hardly qualify as dispassioniate reportage).
The protagonist, as has been pointed out elsewhere, has some stuff in common with Stage: he’s a freelance writer/process server, adopted at birth, with a fondness for drinking. Whether the plot of the novel, which involves the main character’s search for a “friendly womb,” and the chance to father his own kids, reflects reality I do not know. But of course, none of this really matters.
For some, the pleasure of reading this book will come from the sharp humor; others will relate to the hero’s liminal place in the world. For me, it was the fact Stage has evoked the streets of St. Louis with such veracity, I believe every word he writes, no matter what he says about some of it being made up. From the hard-bitten zoysia lawns of South City to the mysterious interior of the Granite City Steel mill, I just decided early on that I was getting a secret tour of the city, invisibly gliding behind, able to experience St. Louis in a way I never would otherwise. Now, this is not to dismiss Fool for Life as a “regional title” — there will be things, as I mentioned above, that will transcend the St. Louis-ness of it, and appeal to a range of readers. But if you love the streets of St. Louis, and miss “Street Talk,” as much as I do, you will be just as much a sucker for this book as I was. Find it at local bookshops, as well as on amazon.com. –Stefene Russell
Upcoming Fool for Life readings/signings by Wm. Stage:
Saturday August 15, 2-5pm
Barnes & Noble
New Halls Ferry at Lindbergh, St. Louis
Saturday, September 12, 10am-noon
Six North Cafe, 6 North Sarah at Laclede
