At one time or another each of these writers has given me a bit of a lift, provided me with some badly needed morale reinforcement or simply stunned me with previously unimaginable feats of mental jiu-jutsu. My guess is that they've probably done the same for you. If they haven't they certainly could. Maybe they could even inspire the creation of a literary Army of the Absurd, to eventually overrun the Mercenaries of the Mundane who seem determined to destroy anything resembling mystery or joy. Let me share with you a rollcall of my particular favorites: The Legion of the Weird. Please send recommendations of your own to me, Neddie Eoin, at soundof1handclapping.gmail.com.
1. High King: Flann O'Brien (a.k.a. Myles na gCopaleen, real name Brian O'Nolan). Author of several novels and the long-running Irish Times Column "Cruiskeen Lawn", an English-Irish-Latin-French-German-language compendium of the strange and hilarious. My personal favourite is the fantastic novel "The Third Policeman". Completed in 1940, O'Nolan grew demoralized by a string of rejections citing 'excessive' fantasticality, eventually stopped shopping it around, and even claimed to friends that he'd lost the manuscript alltogether. It was published only in 1967, a year after his death, due to the faithful persistence of his widow Evelyn. He had to be dead a year for the world to finally catch up to him.
2. Lord High Admiral: Hunter S. Thompson (a.k.a. The Good Doctor, Raoul Duke). Author of numerous books, including "Hells Angels: A Strange and Terrible Saga", an embedded account of the outlaw motorcylce club in the 1960's, and classic essays like "The Kentucky Derby is Decadent and Depraved" and "Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas". Also the founder of "Gonzo Journalism", a species of current events writing that exorcised the sclerotic old gristle of false objectivity that had widely served to undermine the credibility of journalism generally, and replaced it with an exhilarating and vibrant new sense of moral engagment. An easy thing to enjoy, but mighty difficult to master. I have adopted one of his most famous quotes as the Legion's offical motto: "When the going gets tough, the weird turn pro."
3. Captain, Rhetorian Guard: Mícheál Ó Conghaile. Mr. Ó Conghaile may seem a bit of an unusual draft choice for the Legion, not least of all because he is the only conscriptee to date who is still alive. But also because his primary medium of expression is the Irish language, and as a founder of the publishing house Cló Iar Chonnachta, he is a business entrepeneur. The author of numerous books, including works of serious social history, his recommendation to the Legion of the Weird rests on his mind-blowing imaginative fiction. (Science fiction or fantasy would be far too crude a label to hang on them satisfactorally). My single favorite of his works is the collection of short stories "An Fear a Phléasc" ("The Man Who Exploded"). Although it is against my general policy to link to commercial sites, I do so here in deference to Mr. Ó Conghaile's more traditional work, and since despite still being alive I have enrolled him in the Legion without his knowledge or consent: www.cic.ie/index.asp. Go maithe sé domh é.
