The Queen of Puerto Rico: And Other Stories

by Joe Frank

Joe Frank has been called "the apostle of radio noir." In this first collection of stories, he takes us on an obsessive, violent, and sexual odyssey in which individual lives become emblematic of a larger spiritual crisis. He also captures on paper the same eerie speculation and humor he delivers in his late-night monologues on National Public Radio. We meet characters who have jobs, not careers, who lead lives of half-steps, of rootlessness without cause. Frank's narratives result in a kaleidoscopic sense of time, wherein entire lives pass with a few brief moments of inchoate realization. Moments of comic lunacy blend with scenes of great poignancy and terror. In the novella "Night," the protagonist wanders through a series of odd jobs, through prison, to Vietnam, to become the right-hand man of a television evangelist, and without any more purpose approaches his own death. In "Fat Man," a college student travels across the country stealing brownies from roadside Howard Johnsons and then spends the next year returning them. "Date" encapsulates a woman's entire life in her boyfriend's suggestions for her personal ad. "The Decline of the Spengler" is a wildly inventive radio play in which the narrative of a funeral is melded with the dreams of a playwright slowly slipping into madness. In their desperation, the characters in Joe Frank's world, such as the "Fat Man," can only dream of "You know, when I think about myself and the life I've led, I feel self-loathing, shame, and disgust. I'm a waste and a failure. But when I imagine myself as a character in a novel ... well, I think I'm pretty interesting, kind of off-beat, intriguing, entertaining." For years, Joe Frank's broadcasts have invited millions of listeners to the strange world of his mesmerizing stories. In this, his first book, Frank effortlessly segues to the printed page and imparts a new resonance to his narrative inventions.

Genres: Fiction

175 pages, Hardcover

First published November 1, 1993

Reviews

[Robert Beveridge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Joe Frank, The Queen of Puerto Rico and Other Stories (Morrow, 1993)

That this book appeared and disappeared as quickly as it did is testament to how much faith America has lost in radio. Frank, the undisputed king of noir radio drama, released this collection of transcriptions, elaborations, asides, segues, and other obvious evasions of traditional short story writing, to shall we say a crashing silence. Which is unfortunate.

While the stories do lose something when not delivered in Frank's trademark deadpan style, the very oddity of them should still be appealing for those who haven't been introduced to Frank's radio work. The basis for much of what Frank does is to take a regular situation we're all involved in regularly, then draw it to the most absurd conclusion possible. You end up with things like "Fat Man," about a college student who forgets to pay for a brownie one day, then decides he's going to start a collection of stolen Howard Johnson's brownies, or the O. Henryesque "Green Cadillac," about a man standing on a city streetcorner waiting to meet a guy who owes him money and the various people who accost him.

Where the stories fall short, most times, are when the same attempts to interweave completely disparate stories bleed over from radio (where they lend the work an odd, attention-keeping power) into the text. Here, they just seem confusing for the most part (the notable exception being the title story, perhaps the best in the collection, where everything coalesces into a lovely absurd slice of life story). But it is a minor problem at best, and should in no way keep both hardcore Frankophiles and folks who have never heard Frank before from seeking out a copy of this collection. While you're at it, pick up copies (KCRW sells them) of the CDs of "Rent a Family" and "The Dictator," two novel-length radio dramas that showcase Frank at his best. **** ½

[Andy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I've been listening to Joe Frank's radio shows since the late Eighties when his program was called "Work In Progress". It was great to finally get a chance to read some of his shows minus the dramatic score and his intense speaking voice (he sounds like the animated Batman). Many of the stories have a distinctly noirish tone to them even though they aren't noir at all.

I was pleased to see my favorite show, "Night" included in this collection. It's the story of two different people and the destiny that waits them from the choices they make. To say any more would be giving too much away. Some of the stories, like Fat Man and Tell Me What To Do revolve around loneliness and man's inability to cure himself of that malaise.

I also enjoyed the title story, which tells the tale of a young man obsessed with a highly eccentric local woman in St. Thomas, and how this lonely outcast becomes the object of the young man's obsession. The twist ending was worth it.

Although I enjoyed this collection immensely I still prefer Frank's dramatic readings, but if you ever get a chance to read this I would still recommend it highly.

[Kosiya · Rating 4 out of 5]

I'm a little bit afraid of Joe Frank.

[Ed · Rating 5 out of 5]

A collection of short stories from surreal radio monologist Joe Frank. A nice variety of dark, off-kilter stories. My only complaint is that I wish there were more.

[Marco · Rating 5 out of 5]

the GOAT, the best to ever do it, a once in a lifetime kinda guy, etc., etc. this really should be reissued, I had to go through so many different libraries to find a copy.