Garbage Head

by Christopher Willard

In the media-saturated world of this post-modern novel, the lines between reality and virtual reality are blurred. A boy nicknamed Garbage Head, the inevitable product of this world, has developed the ability to predict what those on TV and the radio will say before they say it. At first, he finds fame on television, the very medium to which he is supernaturally privileged, but then is deemed a threat by the government and taken before a fitting a president more consumed with reruns and celebrity gossip than with leading a nation. The format of the book's text simulates the manner in which much of the public now gleans its surfing the Internet. Readers gather points of view and sound bites from various spots in the text in real time and, just as in today's world of endless stimuli, must construct Garbage Head's story from this array of messages. Written with zeal and humor, this cyber fable poses a pressing When technology provides the only links to humanity—when everyone is searching for a meaning that can only be found within—where and by whom is human culture made and unmade?

Genres: Fiction

160 pages, Paperback

First published September 28, 2005

About the author

Published novels: Sundre and Garbage Head. Chapbook: Ship of Theseus. Shorter works have have appeared in Salon, World Literature Today, Canadian Verse 2, Third Wednesday, Ranfurly Review, Ars Medica, Ukula, Coffee House Press, Broken Pencil, Sobriquet, and in the anthologies Can’t Lit: Fearless Fiction; Double Lives: Reinventing & Those We Left Behind; and Poet to Poet: Poems Written to Poets and the Stories that Inspired Them. My writing often takes place under the watchful eyes of my cats, Squeaky and Twinkle. I currently teach at the Alberta College of Art and Design.

Reviews

[Laurel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Garbage Head is an entertaining and humorous novel that screams CULT CLASSIC! (I can imagine Elijah Wood starring in the lead role!) Willard’s protagonist, Garbage Head, is tuned into the angst of his time. He possesses a special sixth sense that enables him to repeat headlines and thoughts BEFORE they are said or publicized. Wry humor and punchy dialogue highlights the absurdities of North American cultural values in this portrait of stereotypical middle class family values. Willard offers a sharp and salient critique of what happens when technology, celebrity worship, and manipulative media propaganda are uncritically adopted and integrated into daily life. The novel is set in the near future in which Garbage Head foretells a future that is much closer than we (and the supporting cast of Willard’s characters) think.

[Jc · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the shortlisted titles for the CLA Young Adult Book Award in 2006.