The Galaxy ClubBrendan Connell. Chômu Press, $13 paperback (202p) ISBN 978-1-907681-25-7
The
Galaxy Club,
titled after a group of supernatural thugs, stumbles back and forth until its
final declaration of strained hopefulness. Connell’s eccentric work tracks a
modern-day-male Cleopatra on his passage through a small town in rural New
Mexico. On his search for ‘the world’s end,’ Cleopatra finds himself involved
with a search for hidden gold, a relationship, and a masochistic cult. Set in
modern day America –ripe with pharmaceutical addiction, unemployment and
poverty –the town seems to exist simultaneously in and out of the present.
Witches, treasure, Blue Boys, the eponymous group of godlike tyrants, and water
dragons are but few examples that place the work in the realm of Greco-Roman
mythology.
Connell explores this immensely
complex plot by shaping the narrative into a series of confession-style
vignettes, which move fluidly between past and present, natural and
supernatural. Each section is organized by character (though character must be
thought of broadly here as it encompasses ‘Those Underground,’ ‘Demon Taming
Stick,’ or ‘Our Little Lady of the Trunk,’). The sections range in size –the
shortest being a single paragraph –and in frequency –some characters speak only
once, and all the sections are relayed in first person narrative. With no
consistent pattern or guiding framework it is easy to get lost in the
labyrinthine text. The closest we get to a landing point is Cleopatra.
However, the small sections ask
perhaps too much of the reader in assessing what should and should not be taken
seriously. Nearly every section features Cleopatra imbibing alcohol, cough
syrup, or both. Though Connell downplays the mental fogginess of an addict, its
constant presence is enough to question the narrators’ reliability.
What is certain is that the
characters all function within a set of binaries –past and present, natural and
supernatural –and waver between these opposing spheres. Blue Boy is the character
freest to pass within these binaries. Blue Boy, whose natural birth was gifted
by the supernatural ‘god’ of fertility, L5Flower, literally embodies the merger
between these two worlds. That said, not much time is spent reflecting on this
convergence and, rather, Blue Boy’s involvement in both worlds is a constant
source of trouble. The friendship between Blue Boy and Cleopatra may be
essential to bridging the gap between past and present but the first person
vignettes leave little room for a much needed reflection on the bizarre
situation. With such grand spectrums, the work might have benefitted from
longer passages to clarify some of the questions raised that are wrought with
folkloric wonderment. On the other hand, the fast pace lends itself to the mythical
milieu and is perhaps best left ephemeral and mystical.
To be sure, The Galaxy Club offers its readers an imaginative run through time.
Chômu Press’ mission, ‘[to] make literature exciting and vital once more,’ is
realized in Connell’s title. (February 2014)
Reviewer
bio: Corinne Bennett graduated in 2013 from Goucher College with a degree in
English Literature. She is currently an intern at Ugly Duckling Presse and
lives in Brooklyn.
