You know, I think Constantine put himself in the series with
the character N.M. Myushkin, the "Mad Russian" novelist who'd
published nine critically acclaimed novels, whom Constantine
introduced in BOTTOM LINER BLUES. The novel is set at the
time of the Gulf War and Myushkin is in his fifties at the
time. So, if Constantine himself really is the basis of his
creation Myushkin, that would put him in his sixties now.
Constantine interviewed himself for the "Afterword" of the
Godine Double Detective republication of THE MAN WHO LIKED TO
LOOK AT HIMSELF and A FIX LIKE THIS. In it, he says his
earliest memories are of "my mother, her father, my father,
and the '36 flood." Based on that, I'd say he's around 68 or
so. Constantine describes Myushkin as "short, thick, wide,
with large, veiny hands, wrists, and forearms. He was wearing
a white T-shirt and gray shorts and running shoes with no
socks." That could have been the man I saw on TV this
morning, I think -- except he had on more than a T-shirt and
shorts to walk around in snowy Pennsylvania. He drank a glass
of wine as Mason interviewed him, and his voice sounded as if
he might have had two or three beforehand to loosen up a
bit.
By the way, BOTTOM LINER BLUES is my favorite novel of
Constantine's, largely because of the Myushkin character.
It's an opinion no one else I know shares.
Later....Kip
William Denton <
buff@pobox.com> on 04/02/2000 01:09:41 PM
Please respond to
rara-avis@icomm.ca
To:
rara-avis@icomm.ca cc: (bcc: Kip Stratton/AUS/NIC)
Subject: Re: RARA-AVIS: K.C. Constantine
On 2 April 2000,
kip.stratton@ni.com wrote:
: Anthony Mason's "Fine Print" series on CBS SUNDAY MORNING
profiled the
: elusive K.C. Constantine this morning -- probably the
finest
: installment in the series.
About how old was, he could you tell? Did he say anything
about future books? Sounds like an interesting profile. I've
never seen anything similar on Canadian TV.
Bill
-- William Denton : Toronto, Canada : http://www.miskatonic.org/ : Caveat lector.
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