The Vanishing Life and Films of Emmanuel Escobada... by Mark Z. Danielewski?

[Nemonymous]

Hi, I'm the editor/publisher of NEMONYMOUS that published this story in 2002.

I have no permission from the story's author for it to be placed on the internet. Could the forum moderator or fearful_syzygy please remove it.

The story's author made me promise initially to try never to confirm or deny any named author wrote it.

As an additional point, you may be interested to know that a published novella recently acknowledged that THE VANISHING LIFE AND FILMS OF EMMANUEL ESCOBADA was an influence on its creation. More details of it if you google "THE WITNESSES ARE GONE" and "nullimmortalis"

LATER EDIT: to correct spelling of "nullimmortalis"

[fearful_syzygy]

Removed.

[Nemonymous]

Thanks.
Until further notice, anyone who makes reference to this thread can receive a free copy of NEMONYMOUS (2002) with this story in it - post free - by contacting me by a PM on this forum.

[modiFIed]

Was this all a very clever marketing ploy? I don't know, but suddenly I feel I must have this magazine.

Fearful, have they gotten to you?

Shhh...don't look at me. Just nod once for yes, or touch your left ear if, God willing, the answer is no.



They're watching.

[Nemonymous]

No ulterior motive. Just haven't got the author's permission for his or her story to be on the internet - and am offering the magazine itself completely free to compensate having it removed from this thread.

df lewis

[fearful_syzygy]

Our true enemy has yet to reveal himself.

[yellowish haze]

I see that the text of 'All The Lights Of Midnight' is available elsewhere on this forum. I'm planning to read it of course and see if I spot any more connections.

Certainly no ploy was intended on my side. I just thought this was the best way to share the speculation. Another reason for creating this thread is that comments are not working on my blog, so I would never be able to see what MZD fans really think about the investigation. Great to see the editor of the magazine joining the forum and that the circumstances have made the opportunity for members to get the issue for free, which, I hope, will result in some additional discussions.

Due to the (mostly) negative feedback as to my theory, my expectations towards having the author of the story nailed have diminished. Now, probably the ultimate step would be to ask Mr. Danielewski himself. I hope that if any of you ever get to make an interview with him I can count on you.

[modiFIed]

I think we're just kidding around - I know I am, my Polish comrade. We are brothers! I mean, if you're male. I know I am. From Krakow.

It's actually very gracious of the publisher to offer the free mag, so I hope people will take advantage.

But it sounds like the author is pretty adamant about remaining anonymous anyway, so maybe that' s just the way it is. Although, if I am permitted an aside, that brand of "I'm anonymous, dammit" somehow feels to me as if these authors doth protest too much.

So to prevent such reverse psychology from working, I never try to figure out who they are. In the same vein, I don't care about Thomas Pynchon's private life - don't want to know, really, sorry and all that Tom.

[Nemonymous]

I never try to figure out who they are. In the same vein, I don't care about Thomas Pynchon's private life - don't want to know, really, sorry and all that Tom.
==========================

That relates interestingly to the 'Intentional Fallacy' (see, for example, the wikipedia article on this subject) - a tenet I've been following since I started studying it in the late Sixties.
des

[yellowish haze]

@modiFIed: hey, nice to come across a member of MZD fandom from PL. Warsaw here, btw.

Well, I guess I'm not as much adamant about finding out who the author is as he is about remaining anonymous, but I do think the Escobada case deserves more discussion. And I do find several similarities in themes and writing techniques in HoL, the Escobada story and the site quite striking. In fact I noticed them already over 4 years ago, but decided to not to discuss them as, in some strange way, I found author's anonymity appropriate. However, the longer I kept waiting to see someone else spot this, the more I felt the need to bring this up.

In a way it would perhaps be appropriate to let everyone forget Escobada until he becomes just a legend known by the few who've managed to read the story...

[Nemonymous]

I haven't really thought much about the ESCOBADA story in recent years. Thanks for awakening it with this thread.

I note from
members.tripod.com/scott_warrick/id9.html
that there was a film called LOST (shown in 3D) in 1984.

As a side issue, this week I finished watching all six TV series of LOST. A wonderful example of ‘The Synchronised Shards of Random Truth & Fiction’.
A retrocausal masterpiece.