Slackers’ Hollywood
Director of the film “Clerks” and hero to a generation of underachieving slackers, Kevin Smith has pulled together a selection of his writing, including his columns for Arena magazine, to be published as Silent Bob Speaks by Titan (23rd May, p/b, £9.99, 1845760808). In true slacker fashion, Smith admits that it took two years to finish the book even though “all of the contents were pretty much already in existence”.
Silent Bob is Smith’s alter ego, a taciturn stoner often seen with a baseball bat who, with his drug-dealing sidekick Jay, features in each one of Smith’s movies, which include “Mallrats” and “Chasing Amy”. In real life Smith is more vocal and charismatic than his fictional doppelganger: his unscripted one-man stand-up show can last for more than three hours. The book is an attempt to capture some of that energy in print.
Smith says: “You come off much better in print than you do in real life; at least I do. But you lose the give and take, because the person reading the book is having shit thrown at them, as opposed to being in an audience when you throw shit that way and shit comes back your way. There’s no give or take to a book, it’s either give or take, depending on which side of the book you’re sitting.”
The book was the idea of Hollywood mogul and Miramax founder Harvey Weinstein, who wanted Smith to be the publisher’s Michael Moore. But though he and Moore have followed a similar trajectory–from independent film-maker to Hollywood player–Smith does not have pretensions to follow Moore into the political landscape. He says: “My book will never do what Michael Moore’s books do. His books are really political, and about big ideas, but always presented in an entertaining way. Mine are just about stupid stuff; they don’t have the big ideas at all, just the entertaining bit.”
Devoted fan base
What Smith does is write amusingly about his life as a slacker turned Hollywood insider. This includes his trouble with morbid obesity (he uses the fat-blocker drug called Xenical, and asks readers to tell him if they see him “tearing into food that no one over 200 pounds should be enjoying”); his thoughts on Britney (”She’s a fad with legs” not even “on the level of a karaoke caroller”); and about other films [for example, “Stars Wars II: Attack of the Clones”, “All I had to see was Yoda toss aside his cane and reach for his lightsabre, and it was like busting a nut in the family dog all over again.”]
Like Moore, Smith has an incredibly devoted fan base, which is sure to drive sales of the book initially. A recent stand-up show Smith recorded in London sold out within a day, having only been promoted on his busy website viewaskew.com. He says: “The fan base is pretty damn strong. I was told by the theatre that they probably could have sold out another six shows, just based on the number of calls they got.” The devotion augurs well for the book, as Smith argues: “Business wise for booksellers it is a smart move, there is a fan base that will buy it. And Brits read, as opposed to Americans.”
Even more convenient for booksellers is that they will be able to spot potential purchasers. “Basically, if you see someone walking into the shop that looks like the dude on the front cover of the book [himself], you’ve got a sale. The bookseller might have to work a little bit to sell the book to someone who has no idea who the fuck I am. I don’t know how it will go over with people who aren’t familiar with my stuff, but then I tend not to worry too much about that.”
Smith says he some sympathy for booksellers, the “folks who actually work the tills”. “My heart goes out to them, I’ve been there, I’ve been in the trenches, as I worked in convenience stores from the time I was 16 till the time I was 23.” But he thinks booksellers “get off lightly”. “I’ve dealt with all manner of incredibly stupid members of the public. Generally, the people coming in to buy books are well educated, and pretty smart, and so it becomes a war of wits. When you work in a convenience store it is a war with nit-wits. At least booksellers are dealing with people who are well-read.”
