Arcadia West

Matt Hartman is a freelance editor and cataloguer, running Hartman Cataloguing, Editing and Indexing Services.

This hyperactive melding of cinematic storyboard, straight
“realtime” narrative, and graphic representation is chock-a-block
with wordplay and cyberspatial references to icons of American
entertainment. The author takes his cue from the hyperactive Hollywood
scene and cuts his cast of characters from giants like D.W. Griffith and
Elvis.

Whatever hopes the reader might have for linear plot development are
dashed with the first occurrence of the graphic ZAP on page 3; Gurr uses
the ZAP device to separate his “cinema storyboard” line from his
“realtime” narrative. The storyboard tells of the attempts to film a
sequel to Griffith’s epic Birth of a Nation, to be called The Story of
America. The realtime narrative follows the character of Myles Manyon as
he integrates himself into Hollywood society.

Putting these two threads together in any logical way is an exercise
fraught with peril. Fortunately, it matters not at all, since you can
plunge into this book at any point, take a gulp of frenetic prose, and
come up for air. Arcadia West is a sharply satirical, wildly funny study
of a culture gone bananas.