My marginalia on the finished Mice 1961 is now done. What a pleasure to go through Stacey’s Levine’s text and know several of its previous drafts, to be able to distinguish that which has been removed from that which has been added, and to be able to take note of how the layers of her writing work together in both a seamless and laminated fashion.
In April of 2019 I mentioned to Stacey that I was very excited to read what she’d done on Mice, knowing she’d already put years of thought and work into the project. After swearing me to secrecy she sent me the file.
I was flush with pride and could clearly imagine the word SECRET stamped in red capital letters across the front of her manuscript. She was trusting me into her rough work. But…after reading the first twenty pages or so I had a vertiginous feeling of disorientation. Why couldn’t my memory keep anything down? I knew instinctively, from my own experience, that real creative writing is all about the mystery of process and I had never read a draft of Stacey’s work before. But it was a bit disconcerting to observe those moments when the wind came up and exposed the text’s boney, undeveloped chatter. Of course, I was guilty of impatience. Like Dickens and the best comics, Stacey knows how to make minor characters noteworthy because of her ability to dot her I-ams with distinct markers of character. Their delusionist joy in misinterpreting the world leads to a Rabelaisian funfest, funabulist selves balancing between comic absurdity and a dedication to pursing life’s illusions. I needed to be patient with the details and let them rise to the surface.
After mulling the manuscript over, it occurred to me there was something I could help her with immediately: cartography. This sense of being lost was a powerful factor in Stacey’s first novel Dra-, but Mice 1961 has and had a small-town familiarity and recognizable street names; a bit of orienteering might prove a useful exercise. When we next met, we drew a very physical map of her little town, street names and all. Who says the map is not the territory? The activity delighted her and was a great help.
In the next draft, Stacey was beginning to realize some characters could remain caricatures, but others would have to blossom into to something more fully fleshed out. I insisted if major characters remained too black and white, too obvious, she would lose the depth which makes writing more than a sketch. She nodded, taking in my thoughts but not making a commitment to my suggestion. I understood her decision making would not be hurried.
For a good while she was working with someone on plotting, and for some reason at this time I recommend she read the lumber room scene in Kafka’s The Trial—which I mentioned on the spur of the moment. Once again, I can’t be sure if she read it or it would have been worth her time. I was just throwing out another idea about her party scene, which though filled with delightful characters and a high point of the book, did not yet feel glued to the rest of the novel.
Sometime during the Pandemic we again started corresponding and she sent me a new draft. Mice 1961 was beginning to take shape but I had another epiphany: The main character, contrary to the title, was not Mice but Girtle, who is the story’s first-person narrator. In the first several drafts Girtle remained submerged under Mice and her sister Jody. Girtle’s role needed to be made more explicit. Stacey has another trusted reader who asked how and why Girtle can recall this novel many years later and relate it to the reader. It was a very smart editorial comment that made a big difference in the next draft.
Which I received in October of 2022. The book had jelled like an aspic. I wrote Stacey in an email: “Your language is just brilliant and things have really fallen into place with the plot: First person Girtle is absolutely clear. You have created MICE like a painter; you’ve done studies, outlined figures, filled them in then changed their composition as needed. The cop, who was already a sparkling comic character, has become so humane, and you’ve given permission for Girtle to feel emotional and sexual about MICE and her sister; We sense her craving for intimacy.” One of the most amazing innovations at this point was Girtle spoke regularly about the story’s helper, a fascinating meta-level character that gave the book yet another perspective and cemented the end of the book.
So at last we have Mice 1961, massaged into life by Stacey’s persistent love. Helping a friend write a great novel that is not just a pleasure but an honor. I hope you have a bit of time to read it.
