froM pArAtex t to polyproCess: the “Quirk y” MAshup novel
103
is a long one-note joke whose potency has a remarkably short shelf life.” 48
Doescher himself stylizes the idea to mimic the Shakespearean metrum
of iambic pentameter as primarily a high school prank resulting from a
creative writing task:
We had just finished a unit on Hamlet and were discussing John Dryden’s
poem Mack Flecknoe, which is a satire against another poet, Thomas
Shadwell. We were supposed to write our own version of Mack Flecknoe,
writing against something we didn’t like. 49
Doescher also peddles the cliché of the innocent natural, the poète
manqué, when he conf ides that he “never really studied Shakespeare,
which probably helped me to continue to love it [sic, presumably
Shakespeare] more.” 50 Indeed, “humblebragging” and the projection of
a non-literary, fannish, and non-professional identity are the key elements
in the paratextual parading of mashup novelists. Adam Bertocci, when
asked about the origin of Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, cites boredom and
narcissism as the key impetus to his writing, significantly launched first
via a Facebook message and cobbled together in a mere three weeks for
the stage:
In November of 2009 I posted a silly little message on Facebook where,
as a joke, I “translated” a couple of famous lines from The Big Lebowski to
amuse people. They amused pretty much only me. Undeterred, a month
or so later I got bored and started typing. 51
Bertocci’s gesture is clearly meant as anti-authoritative. An English minor,
he professes to know little about Shakespeare, to reject the trappings of
authorship and, like other literary mashers, adopts the attitude of a humble
fan vis-à-vis the towering literary author or powerful franchise – clearly in
part to suggest a readerly companionship to the targeted audience:
48 Simon Abrams, “The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski at the Kraine Theatre,” review of Two
Gentlemen of Lebowski, by Adam Bertocci, directed by Frank Cwiklik, Kraine Theatre, New York,
The House Next Door (blog), Slant Magazine, March 22, 2010, accessed February 15, 2019, www.
slantmagazine.com/house/article/the-two-gentlemen-of-lebowski-at-the-kraine-theatre.
49 Doescher, “A Conversation with Ian Doescher, Author of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars®.”
50 Doescher, “Q&A with Ian Doescher about Shakespeare on Star Wars.”
51 “Frequently Asked Questions: Which, Sadly, No One Reads,” off icial website of Adam
Bertocci’s Two Gentleman of Lebowski, accessed November 22, 2016, www.runleiarun.com/
lebowski/faq.shtml.
103
is a long one-note joke whose potency has a remarkably short shelf life.” 48
Doescher himself stylizes the idea to mimic the Shakespearean metrum
of iambic pentameter as primarily a high school prank resulting from a
creative writing task:
We had just finished a unit on Hamlet and were discussing John Dryden’s
poem Mack Flecknoe, which is a satire against another poet, Thomas
Shadwell. We were supposed to write our own version of Mack Flecknoe,
writing against something we didn’t like. 49
Doescher also peddles the cliché of the innocent natural, the poète
manqué, when he conf ides that he “never really studied Shakespeare,
which probably helped me to continue to love it [sic, presumably
Shakespeare] more.” 50 Indeed, “humblebragging” and the projection of
a non-literary, fannish, and non-professional identity are the key elements
in the paratextual parading of mashup novelists. Adam Bertocci, when
asked about the origin of Two Gentlemen of Lebowski, cites boredom and
narcissism as the key impetus to his writing, significantly launched first
via a Facebook message and cobbled together in a mere three weeks for
the stage:
In November of 2009 I posted a silly little message on Facebook where,
as a joke, I “translated” a couple of famous lines from The Big Lebowski to
amuse people. They amused pretty much only me. Undeterred, a month
or so later I got bored and started typing. 51
Bertocci’s gesture is clearly meant as anti-authoritative. An English minor,
he professes to know little about Shakespeare, to reject the trappings of
authorship and, like other literary mashers, adopts the attitude of a humble
fan vis-à-vis the towering literary author or powerful franchise – clearly in
part to suggest a readerly companionship to the targeted audience:
48 Simon Abrams, “The Two Gentlemen of Lebowski at the Kraine Theatre,” review of Two
Gentlemen of Lebowski, by Adam Bertocci, directed by Frank Cwiklik, Kraine Theatre, New York,
The House Next Door (blog), Slant Magazine, March 22, 2010, accessed February 15, 2019, www.
slantmagazine.com/house/article/the-two-gentlemen-of-lebowski-at-the-kraine-theatre.
49 Doescher, “A Conversation with Ian Doescher, Author of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars®.”
50 Doescher, “Q&A with Ian Doescher about Shakespeare on Star Wars.”
51 “Frequently Asked Questions: Which, Sadly, No One Reads,” off icial website of Adam
Bertocci’s Two Gentleman of Lebowski, accessed November 22, 2016, www.runleiarun.com/
lebowski/faq.shtml.