Holding On Through
A Novel Inspired, In Part, By R.E.M.
they call me the apologist.
and now that I'm at peak.
you know at first it really hurt.
we joke about these things.
I've skirted all my differences
but now I'm facing up.
I wanted to apologize for
everything I was. so
I'm sorry, so sorry...
"The Apologist"---R.E.M.
Hello. My name is remmermuse and I am working on a novel and hope to have published early in the New Year. It is based, in part, on the Athens, Georgia rock band, R.E.M., in that lead singer Michael Stipe, guitarist Peter Buck, keyboardist Mike Mills and former drummer, Bill Berry, are represented in a very loose way by the characters of Michael Hope, Burton Peck, Gill Giles and Paul Perry, respectively.
In my story, Michael Hope struggles for the better part of their band, Oxymoron's career with severe eating disorders, brought about primarily with the advent of music videos and of having to look reed thin to be presentable to the stars' young, primarily female fans. Hope gets so caught up in the talons of anorexia and bulimia that he dies in the middle of their biggest world tour and leaves the surviving three members wondering if it was all worthwhile. A sobering tale, bound to be disturbing and upsetting, but it makes a strong statement against the shallowness of the music industry and compares the video boom to the female fashion industry.
Sound overly upsetting? Perhaps, but as a writer of fiction, I have the freedom to write about timely topics and mute them in a world essentially cloaked in fantasy. Why don't you just read the chapters I have put on this site and judge for yourselves? I am putting summaries on this page of the chapters not featured here, to give you a sense of continuity and fluidity. Of course, they will not go into a great deal of detail, to keep you guessing, but this is much more than a tale about a rock star who self-destructs. Much more. The four musicians in this story have some heady times and some terrible ones. In other words, they experience life, as it is. Nobody gets out of this life without pain, not even famous rock icons who seemingly, have the world by the proverbial tail.
Having said all that, I am putting some pages at the bottom of this one where the chapters have been listed. They include such "comic relief" fare as a combination "Star Trek: The Next Generation", "The X Files" and R.E.M. all getting together in a crazy script, to various stories about R.E.M, fictionalized and mainly done for fun. The first of these appears tonight: The "Star Trek" one---have a good time, because even though there are hard times in this life, it's not ALL doom and gloom.
Chapter One
Tangled-Root Meanderings Of the Newly Disenchanted
Chapter Two
A Summary
Chapter Three
A Selection From This Chapter
Chapter Four
Reflection?
Chapter Six
Large Percentage Of This Chapter On The World Of The Internet
Chapter Seven
The Dark Side Of Videomania
Parts Of Chapter Ten
Emotional Spoils Of Love, Betrayal And Self-Denial
Chapter Eleven
A Sliver Of Hope
Chapter Twelve
A Gathering Of Crickets
Selection From Chapter Thirteen
Tribute
The Rest Of The Story
Summaries For The Remainder Of The Chapters With Parts Of Each Included Here
I have also started an R.E.M. fan fiction site, which will have many stories, novellas and another cybernovel, based on the songs and the lives of my all-time favourite rock band, bar none. Here's the address. Just click on it and go:
You Can Get There From Here:
Original Fan Fiction Based On R.E.M.
Now for some levity and lighter entertainment: These pages are all involving R.E.M. in some way and will, hopefully, amuse you. In time, they will be explanded upon, but for now, here are some introductions. There are more coming.
Spaced-Out Fools:
R.E.M. Meet The Star Trek Bunch And Those Two From The X Files
I Met Michael Stipe
My Dreams Have All Come True
Circus Envy
R.E.M. Join The Greatest Show On Earth
The Healing Web
Or, How I Learned To Stop Worrying And Love The Internet
R.E.M., Future-Bound
The Popular Rock Band In The Year 2020
"Affection"
Haiku Poetry For R.E.M.
"Losing My Religion":
A Rock Opera
Everybody Hurts
A short story starring Mr. Stipe
This should be done before tomorrowE-mail me, even if it's only to tell me where to shove it. freedomwriter@uniserve.com
Starvation Haiku
Food's a luxury.Sustinence for the spirit.
It's poison to you.
Remmermuse.
Last Updated: May 23rd, 2004.
