A killer with a guitar
Social and too bad a guitarist to become a rocker, an obsessive moviegoer, the Bourbon Kid has found a good way to mix his passions: writing hard-hitting novels like downhill runs.
Receiving an e-mail from the Bourbon Kid is like getting ready to watch the video of the Japanese film Ring or getting your hands on the supposedly cursed six-string that belonged to the English poet Percy Shelley (he drowned three weeks after acquiring it): you feel like you're playing with fire, with your life. Yes, the Bourbon Kid is scary, he normally expresses himself in few words, preferring to shoot rather than talk. With his face mostly hidden by a hood, the Bourbon Kid is a cold-blooded killer who goes wild when he drinks bourbon - and that's all he drinks! Of course, he doesn't really exist, except in the crazy world invented by an anonymous Anglo-Saxon author in the mid-2000s with The Book with No Name. Eight other novels followed, published in France by Sonatine, all of them devoured by the Guitar Division team. It's normal: the writer hidden in the shadows creates explosive cocktails of fantasy and humor, with rock'n'roll references all the time - a hitman is an Elvis Presley look-alike - and a soundtrack that blasts from blues to metal. The author of these no-holds-barred books - short chapters, non-stop action - now answers to the pseudonym of the Bourbon Kid on social networks and during the rare interviews he grants by email. Hence the weird feeling, even if it lasts two seconds, that comes from receiving an email signed Bourbon Kid. He even signs...BK.
Bowie, Tarantino or Prince Charles?
Since the release of The Book with No Name and its worldwide box office success, two mysteries have been puzzling. First, how the character of the Bourbon Kid can light his cigarettes just by his breath? "It was one of those ideas that just popped up," explains the writer. "And I immediately asked myself, 'Has anyone ever done this in a book or movie?' Since the answer was "no," I had to go. As soon as you have an original idea, you have to rush to use it because these kinds of ideas don't run around. But I don't think the Kid will share his trick with many people." The second riddle is even less likely to be solved: who is behind these jubilant novels? At the beginning, the craziest rumors were spread. The writer would in fact be Prince Charles - revealing a very surprising facet of his personality - or even David Bowie or Quentin Tarantino. Even if these last two hypotheses remain far-fetched, it is not by chance that they concern a musician who has often been an actor and a filmmaker who takes care of the soundtracks of his films with a maniacal care. The writing of The Bourbon Kid is indeed very cinematographic and musical. The writer imagines his books as movies on paper because he is an avid moviegoer. "My favorite movies remain Mad Max 2 and True Romance...My favorite directors are Tony Scott and Robert Rodriguez. I'm a big blu-ray collector. In fact, one of my hobbies is to rewind my favorite movies. It's a very useful way to practice the art of storytelling. I cut out scenes or dialogue that don't add to the plot. That way, I can watch these movies without the boring parts. This taste for cinema is found in his novels for an even more personal reason. "I have Asperger's Syndrome (a form of autism characterized by difficulties in social interactions, ed.), for me everything has to be visual. My stories are played out in my head as if they were movies and I write them so that readers can see what I imagine. I usually start with the idea of one or two scenes and build the story around that. The first draft is always difficult to write, but it gives me a base to work from, then I rewrite everything seven or eight times. During the writing period, which goes from 12 to 18 months, I constantly replay the story in my head. If I'm with friends, they can talk to me without realizing that I'm only half listening. I think of the Bourbon Kid giving someone an ax or Sanchez - the owner of Tapioca, the bar in Santa Mondega, the town where most of the stories take place - shitting on Dracula." Spoiler: yes, you can find these kinds of scenes in the novels.
A pact with Robert Johnson
What about the music? Rest assured, it is omnipresent and gives rhythm to key scenes. Santa Mondega's soundtrack includes AC/DC's Highway to Hell, Johnny Cash's The Man Comes Around or Lorca's Novena by the Pogues, among others. "Normally I like the songs I put in my books, but sometimes I'll include a song I'm not a fan of. You hear The Man Comes Around at the beginning of Dawn of the Dead, and I remember thinking to myself as I was watching it that it would go well with The Bourbon Kid. I always have a playlist for my books, which includes music from movies and songs. The music helps me add emotion to the story. For Santa Mondega, the playlist was much more rock'n'roll than usual, with Johnny Cash, AC/DC but also Guns N'Roses, the Rolling Stones". The music fans will rush in priority to The Devil's Graveyard, 3rd volume of the saga whose action takes place ten years before that of The Nameless Book. A look-alike singing contest is organized in a hotel and fake James Brown, Janis Joplin, Kurt Cobain and even a pseudo-Michael Jackson who turns out to be...the bluesman Robert Johnson. I was coming to the end of the first draft of The Devil's Graveyard and I didn't know how to finish the story. Then I remembered the story of Robert Johnson and his deal with the devil. The first time I heard about him I must have been 14 years old, it was while watching the movie Crossroads (by Walter Hill, ed.). I found his story totally fascinating, so when the idea of putting him in my book came up, I was very excited. He's become a very useful character in subsequent stories, I love having him in my world because he's cool."
Air Guitar
In the past, the Bourbon Kid - the author - has claimed to be a great singer, a gifted dancer and to have once gone to work...dressed as Elvis. "But these days, I only do air guitar. Three of my buddies and I had guitars, but since I was the worst of the four, when we formed our band, I took over the singing and songwriting. We weren't very good and I think I was the weakest link. Now, I can sing in public if I've had a few drinks but I tend to forget the words...because I've had a few drinks! My days as a singer and dancer are behind me and it's better for everyone!" Over time, the Bourbon Kid has created a gallery of endearing characters, grouped under the collective name of Deadhunters, killers of zombies, vampires and every demonic creature in existence. In this gang, there is the bartender Sanchez who, despite the good habit of serving (literally) piss to some of his customers ends up becoming mayor of Santa Mondega. Not bad for an anti-hero! "Initially, Sanchez wasn't meant to be particularly important, but I quickly realized that he was useful in moving plot elements forward. Jasmine - a young woman working in a brothel before becoming a demon slayer, ed. While you're laughing or grumbling at the silly things both of them do, you often miss an important detail. At the beginning of Santa Mondega, Jasmine does something really stupid, but some fifty chapters later, her act proves crucial. It happens to Sanchez, too. It's a cliché to say that writers put parts of themselves into their characters...In the case of our anonymous author, it seems truer than ever. "Being anonymous is a blessing because I don't have to appear in public. I'm unsociable like the Bourbon Kid and when I do socialize, I often screw up, just like Sanchez or Jasmine."
Vincent Brunner
Anonymous Santa Mondega (Sonatine), 496p., 23€, translated from English by Cindy Colin Kapen
Also from Sonatine The Book with No Name, The Eye of the Moon, The Devil's Graveyard, The Book of Death, Psycho Killer, The Pope, the Kid and the Iroquois, Bourbon Kid, May the Devil Take it.
