David Danson's Blog
February 13, 2014
Fish Griwkowsky on Faultline 49 (Edmonton Journal)
Imagine the Sept. 11, 2001 destruction in New York happened to our own downtown World Trade Centre and adjacent Westin Hotel, blackening Edmonton skies. That the Canadian government demanded extradition of the American bomber, and was ignored by our neighbours. That a resulting revenge cycle of petty murders within the two formerly friendly nations escalated into the "November Bombings" of Quebec Hydro, resulting in the winter deaths of 2,500 east coast Americans. Imagine, then, President Bush having the easy excuse to send troops across our border - especially into Alberta - to protect America's energy security, defying U.N. resolutions as easily as public opinion. And thus, step by step, a Can-American War erupted.
Of course, this horrific and unbelievable chain of events never happened here. But it does in a strangely realistic new novel by Toronto writer Joseph MacKinnon. The genius of Faultline 49 (Guy Faux Books) is exactly this: the 250-page thought exercise swaps Edmonton with New York, and also Canada with Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations in a buildup of violence, fabrication and barely concealed geopolitical oil interests. It's a story one would never swallow, had it not actually gone down between the U.S. and the Middle East, including the ongoing Iraq occupation. MacKinnon, who wrote his book under the name of fictional journalist David Danson, transplants countless footnoted real-life quotes from Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and political commentators such as Pat Buchanan, declaring Canada "Soviet Canuckistan," and Ann Coulter's belch.
"They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent."
Yes, she actually said that, in our reality, in 2004. But it's extra sinister with U.S. troops blockading the High Level Bridge.
MacKinnon, 24, was born in Calgary, graduated from the University of Alberta with a master's of English and Film Studies and now lives in Toronto. He has a fabulous and elastic intelligence behind playing havoc with North American relations. Though he's quick to sternly stress the tragedy of the real 9/11, talking to MacKinnon it's easy to believe H.G. Wells had a little fun with War of the Worlds, his commentary on the perils of British Imperialism. Germ-vulnerable Martians aside, there's certainly a long tradition of "elseworlds," counterfactual fiction stretching back through the Victorian Age.
But MacKinnon's use of existing sound bytes suddenly aimed Canada's way both grounds his narrative in reality and makes his construction all the more unnerving. And, dare I say, exciting. "Employing existing quotes to build this world," he explains from Toronto, "they really lent themselves to the fiction and the fiction to them. In recon-textualizing 9/11, there was already so much about it that you couldn't avoid if you wanted to understand it. There's this theatre of paranoia and this rhetoric of fear that I had to engage with and employ in the novel. Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, even Bush - they were perfect.
"Of course," he laughs, "there are little manipulations here and there. We're not at war with the United States, for example." Sometimes the real world actually went too far. "Tucker Carlson. I didn't include his because it was too scathing when he said Canadian soldiers were cowardly. My hands started to tremble."
Read more here:
http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjourna...
Of course, this horrific and unbelievable chain of events never happened here. But it does in a strangely realistic new novel by Toronto writer Joseph MacKinnon. The genius of Faultline 49 (Guy Faux Books) is exactly this: the 250-page thought exercise swaps Edmonton with New York, and also Canada with Iraq, Afghanistan and other nations in a buildup of violence, fabrication and barely concealed geopolitical oil interests. It's a story one would never swallow, had it not actually gone down between the U.S. and the Middle East, including the ongoing Iraq occupation. MacKinnon, who wrote his book under the name of fictional journalist David Danson, transplants countless footnoted real-life quotes from Bush, Donald Rumsfeld and political commentators such as Pat Buchanan, declaring Canada "Soviet Canuckistan," and Ann Coulter's belch.
"They are lucky we allow them to exist on the same continent."
Yes, she actually said that, in our reality, in 2004. But it's extra sinister with U.S. troops blockading the High Level Bridge.
MacKinnon, 24, was born in Calgary, graduated from the University of Alberta with a master's of English and Film Studies and now lives in Toronto. He has a fabulous and elastic intelligence behind playing havoc with North American relations. Though he's quick to sternly stress the tragedy of the real 9/11, talking to MacKinnon it's easy to believe H.G. Wells had a little fun with War of the Worlds, his commentary on the perils of British Imperialism. Germ-vulnerable Martians aside, there's certainly a long tradition of "elseworlds," counterfactual fiction stretching back through the Victorian Age.
But MacKinnon's use of existing sound bytes suddenly aimed Canada's way both grounds his narrative in reality and makes his construction all the more unnerving. And, dare I say, exciting. "Employing existing quotes to build this world," he explains from Toronto, "they really lent themselves to the fiction and the fiction to them. In recon-textualizing 9/11, there was already so much about it that you couldn't avoid if you wanted to understand it. There's this theatre of paranoia and this rhetoric of fear that I had to engage with and employ in the novel. Tucker Carlson, Ann Coulter, even Bush - they were perfect.
"Of course," he laughs, "there are little manipulations here and there. We're not at war with the United States, for example." Sometimes the real world actually went too far. "Tucker Carlson. I didn't include his because it was too scathing when he said Canadian soldiers were cowardly. My hands started to tremble."
Read more here:
http://www2.canada.com/edmontonjourna...
October 30, 2013
Faultline 49 Author Murdered, Marking the End of 12-Year Struggle
Hello,
We’ve been asked by David’s family to terminate activity on all social media accounts, especially those related to his work, except for his Goodreads account, which will now be managed by Ian Caird, David's former editor at Guy Faux Books.
David Danson has brought disparities in the narrative of the North American conflict to light, and for that suffered what we can only construe to be the last in a long series of suppressive manoeuvrings. Faultline 49 stands as his record, and perhaps his defense.
We remember him for his journalistic integrity and his tenure at The Network.
(Read his full obituary: http://bit.ly/19AZv0v)
Best regards,
Ian Card and J MacKinnon
Guy Faux Books, Toronto
Faultline 49
David Danson
We’ve been asked by David’s family to terminate activity on all social media accounts, especially those related to his work, except for his Goodreads account, which will now be managed by Ian Caird, David's former editor at Guy Faux Books.
David Danson has brought disparities in the narrative of the North American conflict to light, and for that suffered what we can only construe to be the last in a long series of suppressive manoeuvrings. Faultline 49 stands as his record, and perhaps his defense.
We remember him for his journalistic integrity and his tenure at The Network.
(Read his full obituary: http://bit.ly/19AZv0v)
Best regards,
Ian Card and J MacKinnon
Guy Faux Books, Toronto
Faultline 49
David Danson
September 22, 2013
Faultline 49: At Spes Infracta
Pulp Pictures put together a tester for a webisodic look into the Faultline 49 universe. Check it out on YouTube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm4QtS...
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zm4QtS...
September 12, 2013
Faultline 49 Give-Away
Thank you to everyone who participated in the recent competition.
For anyone who did not manage to secure a copy of Faultline 49 but would still be interested in procuring one, please visit faultline49.com
Wishing you all the best,
DD
For anyone who did not manage to secure a copy of Faultline 49 but would still be interested in procuring one, please visit faultline49.com
Wishing you all the best,
DD
May 29, 2013
Faultline 49: Graphic Novel Concepts
Howdy!
Just put up a few concepts for the graphic novel based in the Faultline 49 universe: http://www.faultline49.com/#!graphic-...
Also, if you want to check out two short excerpts from Faultline 49, take a peak:
http://www.faultline49.com/#!lf/c7vq
Take care!
-DD
Just put up a few concepts for the graphic novel based in the Faultline 49 universe: http://www.faultline49.com/#!graphic-...
Also, if you want to check out two short excerpts from Faultline 49, take a peak:
http://www.faultline49.com/#!lf/c7vq
Take care!
-DD
