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Spill: A Minor Epic Comedy
Have you ever dreamed about opening your own real fake business? How about working and living with macho ex-convicts cleaning up an oil spill? Neither did Luke, but he finished his master’s during the second great depression and, at first sight, fell in love with Emilie, a business-minded woman. Needing to impress her, Luke sallies forth, with his befuddled friend Butterfield, to “disrupt” old industries, just like tech companies disrupt. Unfortunately, the pair don’t have a tech background, only outlandish ideas. Yet, Luke has some success pretending to be Emilie’s boyfriend (twice), so the opportunity for romance is possible, if only his unusual business endeavors, a man with Napoleon’s hat, and the law don’t catch up to him first.
"Spill" is partially autobiographical. Within the first week of moving to the South, ND Kalna lived aboard a barge and helped clean up the 2010 BP oil spill. He currently lives in New Orleans.
Excerpts from an interview about
Who would enjoy reading this novel?
Someone [would enjoy reading this novel] who wants to laugh and read about the rebirth of New Orleans at the time of the BP oil spill. I think a well-read recent college grad would especially enjoy it because I made so many literary references.
Why is that? You mention a lot of author’s including Gogol, Cervantes, Lewis Carroll, Dave Eggers, Kipling, Hunter S. Thompson, etc… is it done as a homage?
Certainly some of it—the story is partially autobiographical, and while I lived aboard a barge cleaning up the oil spill I read a lot, particularly during my graveyard shifts as a radioman. I would listen for distress calls and read for 8 hours each night. The allusions are meant to add meaning. The original works influenced my novel’s themes and plot, especially the picaresque novels. Like other novels where literature alters the mind of the protagonist, the books kind of take over at points.
Tell us more about the autobiographical parts. What were your motivations for writing?
Cleaning up the 2010 BP oil spill was such an epic experience, I knew I had to write about it. All kinds of men worked on the Cajuns, blacks, ex-cons, and we lived 4 to a room. Ultimately, the story is about relationships amongst men. However, the seed of the novel is a voice. During my time as a radioman, the captain told me about an oyster boat captain that sometimes rants on the radio. I never actually heard him, but I thought about it for years and eventually wrote about 5000 words of rants that I never actually used.
I knew the spill wasn’t enough for a full length novel, but 2010 was such an interesting year. After the cleanup effort ended, I needed a job and many people suggested I open my own business. At the time, New Orleans had this odd, profound energy and so much of city is absurd and playful and bizarre, I knew I had to write a comedy about finding work and the humiliations and triumphs of sallying forth on your own.
Do people ever say that a comedy about an oil spill is bad taste? What do you say to them?
Absolutely, people have reacted that way. First of all, the spill is only about 30% of the content and the humor during those parts has little to do with the spill. More importantly, people need to develop a sense of humor. They have one in New Orleans. The oil spill workers had a sense of humor. Don’t knock it until you read it. Terrible things happen and it’s important to keep a wide perspective because life will continue. I also think self-pity is the worst of all the emotions. Eclectic optimism is a better emotion to cultivate.
"Spill" is partially autobiographical. Within the first week of moving to the South, ND Kalna lived aboard a barge and helped clean up the 2010 BP oil spill. He currently lives in New Orleans.
Excerpts from an interview about
Who would enjoy reading this novel?
Someone [would enjoy reading this novel] who wants to laugh and read about the rebirth of New Orleans at the time of the BP oil spill. I think a well-read recent college grad would especially enjoy it because I made so many literary references.
Why is that? You mention a lot of author’s including Gogol, Cervantes, Lewis Carroll, Dave Eggers, Kipling, Hunter S. Thompson, etc… is it done as a homage?
Certainly some of it—the story is partially autobiographical, and while I lived aboard a barge cleaning up the oil spill I read a lot, particularly during my graveyard shifts as a radioman. I would listen for distress calls and read for 8 hours each night. The allusions are meant to add meaning. The original works influenced my novel’s themes and plot, especially the picaresque novels. Like other novels where literature alters the mind of the protagonist, the books kind of take over at points.
Tell us more about the autobiographical parts. What were your motivations for writing?
Cleaning up the 2010 BP oil spill was such an epic experience, I knew I had to write about it. All kinds of men worked on the Cajuns, blacks, ex-cons, and we lived 4 to a room. Ultimately, the story is about relationships amongst men. However, the seed of the novel is a voice. During my time as a radioman, the captain told me about an oyster boat captain that sometimes rants on the radio. I never actually heard him, but I thought about it for years and eventually wrote about 5000 words of rants that I never actually used.
I knew the spill wasn’t enough for a full length novel, but 2010 was such an interesting year. After the cleanup effort ended, I needed a job and many people suggested I open my own business. At the time, New Orleans had this odd, profound energy and so much of city is absurd and playful and bizarre, I knew I had to write a comedy about finding work and the humiliations and triumphs of sallying forth on your own.
Do people ever say that a comedy about an oil spill is bad taste? What do you say to them?
Absolutely, people have reacted that way. First of all, the spill is only about 30% of the content and the humor during those parts has little to do with the spill. More importantly, people need to develop a sense of humor. They have one in New Orleans. The oil spill workers had a sense of humor. Don’t knock it until you read it. Terrible things happen and it’s important to keep a wide perspective because life will continue. I also think self-pity is the worst of all the emotions. Eclectic optimism is a better emotion to cultivate.
299 pages, Kindle Edition
Published September 17, 2017
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