Eggplant

by Ogden Nesmer

The complete novel, as serialized in &amp magazine

Arda is a writer covering the LA art scene. But in a commercial world where the artists she respects must debase themselves for recognition, she's begun to lose interest in her career and her friends. When a mysterious benefactor contracts her services, offering her a trip to a strange island resort for an interview with a murderous madman, she is intially terrified. Still, drawn to the idea of a fresh start, and of something unknown waiting to be found, she accepts.

Things quickly become stranger on the island; lunatics, blood-rituals and a deadly fungus all threaten Arda's quest for the perfect interview with a killer. Art and life seemingly mimic each other in a competition to be the strangest, as everything Arda believed previously about creativity is challenged by what she fears in mankind. In the end, she must choose between artistic integrity, and escape from the island.

Genres: Fiction

210 pages, Paperback

First published November 30, 2021

Reviews

[gordon · Rating 4 out of 5]

Captivating and quirky novel with a driving story that finds space for artistic flourish without succumbing to navel-gazing.

Reads a lot like Pynchon's Crying of Lot 49 — a comparison I don't doubt the author would find flattering. An outwardly blasé and independent woman from a fallen California spirals headfirst into a conspiracy that transcends government on a gaslit misadventure that isn't so much drug-fueled as it is drug-flavored. Not quite as willing to participate as Oedipa, though, Eggplant's heroine Arda is closer to Diane from Bojack Horseman.

Nesmer writes two distinct classes into his novel: characters, who are fully-formed and taken at face value, and people, who are fallible, vulnerable, and owed the benefit of the doubt. There are only three people, really, and each has his or her POV chapters. The reduction of every other named entity to a caricature reminded me of the way I viewed my parents' friends growing up, as if a line separated my unformed self from the crystallized form of the adults. This feeling is reinforced in Eggplant in the way drugs, sex, and other R-rated concepts are largely kept at arm's length. Even the attempts at narcotic rambling somehow fail to convincingly capture the indulgent and desperate perspective of the junkie.

Altogether well written despite the above and its want of a proofreading pass. I started out willing to give it a shot for a chapter or two and ended up finishing it that same afternoon. I will be watching for more releases from Ogden Nesmer, and were the publishing industry any less fucked, I'd say I wouldn't be surprised to see him circulated more widely at some point down the road.

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[Zulu Alitspa · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book succeeds as much as it fails, but ultimately it was a pleasant reading experience and I definitely don't regret taking a chance on it. I don't like to dwell on negatives, so real quick: I found the main story to be painfully repetitive. It was competently executed and I am positive there is an audience for that sort of thing, it just does not appeal to me on a personal level. In terms of objective criticism, I felt like I was constantly waiting for the story to get started, and once it actually got going, I felt like I was waiting for Arda to 'catch up' with the plot. She is so oblivious that at times it becomes borderline comical.

With that out of the way, I believe that Ogden Nesmer may very well be the second coming of JG Ballard. The story of Sam Bones and the scenes on Baz's island were spectacular, in the most absolute literal definition of the word. Pacing, prose, characterization, and imagery all come together to create a marvel of description that paints a surreal picture without ever dwelling too long on any one detail. It's what every author strives to do: create a vision which leaves the reader with a feeling that reality is lacking in some way.

Furthermore, as these elements begin to blend with the main story, Arda's quest to find Goshen becomes significantly less tedious. The end was somewhat mixed in quality. I mentioned Arda's obliviousness, which comes to an absurd climax as she decries Goshen's hypocrisy, but this is tempered by Goshen's despicable attitude towards his craft and humanity, and his degeneracy is fully illuminated in one line of dialogue which genuinely filled me with disgust.

On the whole, this book is definitely worth your time.

[P. · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thankfully Nesmer does not spend the entire novel talking about fungus or blood rituals which are on the periphery. Eggplant is a personal story with a parallel narrative about a criminal artist underworld. The author builds various themes usually pessimistic in nature ranging from circles, rhythm and strings with what I found was excellent pay-off. The passages about the cuttlefish are amazing and I think the most satisfying single aspect in the story that juxtaposes the pessimism; I think the cuttlefish is key to understanding these characters feelings as well as the cover art and title of the story. Numerous scenes wax philosophic on art and the passages about Chemistry and drugs are also captivating. The menagerie of degenerate artists through the first half is awesome. There's a lot of movement in the story and not much navel-gazing.
A sense of dread pervades the story and is filled with despair and degeneracy, thankfully not too graphic but you have been warned. There are many characters all with different voices and two of them grow significantly, Arda who struggles to go from liminal to definite and Sam who wants out of the cyclic nature of his meaningless life. Lin is a delicious narcissist and Goshen an idiosyncratic psychopath and both are a joy to read.
Nesmer's vocabulary is great and I didn't find it terribly purple either. He tends to only reuse words for deliberate theme-building.

I'd be remiss not to offer some criticism. There are approximately six spelling errors in this edition that I got, and seven numerical marks which I believe may be footnotes for a digital edition that the paperback doesn't link to. From a stylistic standpoint, Nesmer uses italics for emphasis liberally and not afraid to use passive voice often; these two don't particularly bother me but I could see it irritating some readers. There's a weak diatribe about human thought around page 88 that felt like a shallow musing and it would've been better to develop or at least wave a flag around it. Although I understand her frustration, Arda came off as didactic when she spoke truth-to-power late in the story. I felt the scene could have been handled better. Despite Eggplant's literary leaning the ending came off surprisingly clear and I think something ambiguous might have been more suitable, especially considering the many scenes where Arda asks a question and is given no answer.

I don't regret reading this novel and actually found it emotionally moving, albeit not to a masterful degree. While I think Nesmer ended it on a flat note from a literary standpoint, he did deliver his promise to the reader that the story is about the creativity of the artist and not the slavish nature that cynics believe in. I am so glad the Nesmer made this a personal story with reflection on human nature rather than an erotic horror romp on an island. Looking forward to the next story from this author and recommend anyone considering this book to check it out.

[Phil · Rating 5 out of 5]

Prototypically a first novel but in the best sense. Nesmer is definitely a great talent who just needed to excise the faux-art of the West in this nearly incorporated sacrifice of a book. I read this as a lamb of all materialist post-modern sin ready for its incerneration before the God of Art. I viewed this book as both a mystic trip from the center of the universe to a renewed focus of Sam, the very essence of a mystical nobody, awakening to the divine calling to save instead of hurt via the revelation of the fear of infinity itself. It's a tremendous book - an easy and punchy read that would be 130pg in normal font size.

This book stands to me as a quasi-manifesto of the next generation of artists - one deadly serious on Good, Moral art that is beautiful. It is both a testament to the raw power of prose when used for Good and also the true meekness of the writer who reserves revenge from his characters and gives the devils, stand ins of course, some of the most gut wrenchingly compelling arguments they could give. It's Apocalypse Now mixed with McKenna mixed with C.S. Lewis. Highly recommend.

[Δκнғ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Hello, kino department?

[William Pearce · Rating 5 out of 5]

In my quest to finish /wg/’s material, I set out to read Ogden Nesmer’s Eggplant, which I finished a while ago, but haven’t had a chance to review with my current schedule. Luckily, I kept pretty significant notes on the novel.

Where to start?

Nesmer’s book was billed as the best /wg/ book in terms of writing quality. I can say it is, without doubt. It’s flawed, but on the whole, it’s practically an industry-level book minus some problems. I recommend it outright for anyone who loves a good thriller. Bravo Ogden, and this may be my shortest /wg/ review, because I had so few problems and Eggplant was a joy to read. I don’t know if Nesmer tried to get an agent or not, but he could’ve gotten one with Eggplant if he didn’t mind waiting. I’m curious about the production side here.

As per usual, we will start with the technical qualities of the text, style, then move to the plot, characters, etc. I will not spoil the book entirely, but there will be some spoilers.

Grammatically, there are minor issues. Dialogue is often positioned into place strangely, with colons, commas and marks used in archaic ways, with idiosyncrasies like two-dashes substituting for an em-dash. It's hard to imagine what circumstances would warrant this. The dialogue is often just dripping with ellipses and extra marks.

There are typos, but it never gets offensive, and that's more or less it for technical problems. There’s not a lot.

Most of my issues are hyper-specific nitpicks I have about style, and the tinges of roughness of a book that probably could’ve used a copyeditor. For example, in more complex paragraph and sentence formation, Nesmer's reach exceeds his grasp, resulting in weak work. Not always, but occasionally. Overall, musings and attempts at prose are clean and interesting, only occasionally coming off as choppy and sophomoric.

The book has its moments of wit and comedy. It’s often beautiful when Nesmer is producing descriptive narration, scene setting, etcetera, and this is where he finds his immense stride.

There is very little to criticize at the macro level that isn't minor plot things or relatively uninteresting characterization, and even then, these things are perfectly functional. The plot moguls are there, however. An example of a narrative hiccup is when one character drugs another for reasons that can best be described as pointless, and something that just turns into a plot blackhole. That’s sort of it for any critique I have of the technical and stylistic work of the novel.

So, plot and character things.

The novel chiefly follows Arda, a writer of sorts, employed by a mysterious benefactor, Errol, to seek out some alleged killer artist, Goshen, on an tropical archipelago. A simple and clever startup for intrigue. There is some gasoline to get this going, and one support character, a middleman and fellow artist, Lin, who serves seemingly as a plot device and only enters intermittently as support. Spoilers. He ends up becoming a minor hindrance or rival, but it’s never exploited effectively, and we’ll get to my major issues that kept this from five stars.

When she arrives on the atoll, there are fish out of water elements that help acquaint us with your protagonist and the sort of thing we can expect under the watchful eye of the island’s operator, Everett, and its exotic inhabitants that occasionally commandeer a chapter almost unwarranted and unwanted.

Arda searches the atoll for the killer artist, Goshen. She has no luck until basically he falls into her lap, by her more-or-less blundering around until finds him by investigating a hint, which she even mentions in her own narration, "Reducing to asking strangers about a stranger."

At about two thirds, we get to the main event which is the back and forth between Arda and Goshen. A battle of wills takes place, and Goshen is an eccentric European who unfurls both nuanced and clumsy views on the equatorial of art, killing, and death, and so-forth. Goshen's monologues remind me unironically of Pseudo Bulkington's philosophizing, another /wg/ exile. This is going to be hit or miss for some people.
Although Goshen’s mutterings may not be of note for some, the tension between the two is effective, and I was reminded of Silence of the Lambs.

That being said, Nesmer definitely starts working magic at this point in the book, and the latticework comes alive. Much like Cinder and Weedman, there is a commercial product here hurried and buried under a rough exterior.

Back to the plot, Goshen immediately spills the beans by his second encounter with Arda, and I questioned what I was in for at that point. It wasn't the slow and psychological unraveling I expected, so I started taking wagers with myself. The story takes a turn I won't spoil here, an interesting one with greater scope and implications, but Nesmer does little with it and it's too close to the end. For the first time about /wg/, I could've done with more book. Nesmer didn’t explore these more interesting ideas, or maybe he considered it. I don’t know. The complications created in scope would have made for an interesting unravel, but as is, it's left more undercooked.

The final act is short, and the immediate fallout seems like a formality. The archipelago comes apart at the seams, so it seems.

So, what were the problems?

Nesmer's biggest weakness is characters. They are given some distinction, especially Goshen, who clearly received the fruit of labor as an eccentric, but will be majorly up to interpretation if he's effective to the reader. Others are plentiful and interchangeable and forgettable outside of Lin, who is tertiary at best. Everett and Errol are characters with major plot implications that are barely tertiary. Other characters are introduced and mostly forgettable, interacting in the plot only gently, including Arda’s brother, who's mostly character foundations.
The entire plot suffers from a lack of secondary characters with only ephemeral guests floating in and out with little to no characterization.

Nesmer’s biggest strength is prose and pacing. He’s a writer, through and through, and when he's in his stride, he’s at a publishing standard and beyond plenty of traditional publishers in skill. With development, this easily could have been a commercial release. It's beautiful when it needs to be, short when required, elaborate when wanted, and overall lacking in gaffes.
Pacing is rock solid even if the plotting isn't. Once some preliminaries are out of the way, it's off to the races with constant developments. I'm almost startled that there are so few internals and inner monologues.

Although not perfect, Eggplant is excellent. It's the current trophy-winner of the /wg/ catalogue, and as such, is awarded the first five stars from this relative scale. Nesmer could have (and probably should have) developed the project with industry rigor. Hat's off, Ogden. I recommend it without a caveat.

[Pat ra sche · Rating 4 out of 5]

Read this in a single day when my internet was down. It was a fun read.

[Keane Ku · Rating 4 out of 5]

A great, interesting read! Wish it was longer but also thought it ended at just the right spot. Especially given that you can get this book for free (legally), it's an easy recommendation.

[Zoe Berman · Rating 5 out of 5]

An exciting first work by Ogden Nesmer! He weaves an intricate spiderweb of increasingly complicated characters, all of whom I found myself eager to decipher. I’d recommend this book to anyone who loves a narrative teetering on the edge of reality and mania. The tension between what is real and what is imagined keeps the pages turning at an alarming rate. Highly recommend for a quick read!

[edmondegreen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book. Rich with recursion and grounded surrealist themes.

[Christopher Kent · Rating 4 out of 5]

Brilliant stuff. Review to follow once I get my mind straight after experiencing this.

[Chris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Eggplant's an interesting read with nice prose. There's a cuttlefish, a funky island, and a likeable protagonist. All in all, the book's pretty neat.

4/5

[Remember_Summer_Days · Rating 4 out of 5]

Spoiler alert: Eggplant isn’t actually about Eggplants—Or dick emojis for that matter—what it’s about are the hurdles of a struggling artist trying to make sense of her calling in a world where art has become a weapon. The protagonist, Arda, a failed painter with family traumas takes the spotlight as she finds herself intertwined inside a cabal of five-star hotels and a serial killer who murders for the sake of his art.

But Arda isn't a lonely heroine in Eggplant. The narrative bifurcates between a cast of heart-felt characters, their vices and their philosophical musings. The stories of these side-characters sometimes just simply disappear into the background of the story, or have seemingly nothing to do with the journey of Arda. I suspect this way of handling character was intentional by the author, however, I don’t think the effect was successful. The thematic climax the novel provides for this way of handling characters left me with a lot to be desired.

Despite its many characters, Eggplant remains a personal journey for Arda, but also a philosophical exploration for the reader. Well, mostly about the philosophy of art. Mostly from Goschen. A professional serial killer, Goschen is behind most of the philosophical explorations of the novel, wherever you find him deep or not might make or break this novel for you. And Goschen, in fact, wants to break you.

Arda’s journey can’t be separated from that of Goschen, a lost and disenfranchised artist that’s forced by way of the narrative to face her biggest rival: An artist in his prime. It just happens that the art of her rival involves mutilating human bodies. In this regard, Eggplant reminds me of Mao II, and Ogden Nesmer manages to create more personal and charming characters than DeLillo, which goes to show Ogden’s talent. In other aspects, the novel fails to reach philosophical heights of something like Mao II.

Most of the philosophical points come from characters having soliloquies or Goschen debating with Arda. And personally, Goschen didn’t manage to carry the weight needed to elevate the philosophy of the novel into something noteworthy. Goschen comes off as a void, and presumptuous serial killer, with more edginess than my cringe detectors can tolerate. For example:

“I was a slave to death, I was doing her duties, which is why she favors me."

and

“Death is a grateful master.”

Don’t take my word for it though. I don’t think the context saves these dialogues, but you should still check this novel out and decide for yourself. Despite my hesitation with Goshen, the character has a lot of interesting things to say, but I’m my opinion, they just don’t have a lot of depth in them. Eggplant is a novel about characters wrestling with ideas. Ideas which can often suffer from too much exposition, nevertheless Eggplant still presents a philosophy of art that makes you want to keep chewing on, if only to see if there’s anything deep in them.

Like a five star hotel, Nesmer’s prose is both comfy and exciting—Barring a few grammar mistakes and one or two clunky paragraphs—it submerges you into the tropical world of Epstein-esque hotels and the debauchery behind it all. I didn’t find prose incredibly beautiful, perhaps not my piece of cake. But it comes from the hand of a great storyteller.

At one point in the novel, Goshen describes writers as thieves of meaning and significance. In that case Ogden Nesmer is a great thief. He has produced a novel of meaning and significance.

[Guy Hayes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Exquisitely entertaining!

Ogden Nesmer takes us on a journey into the depraved and sinister side of the artsy-fartsy world. We follow struggling art critic, Arda. Her current job is interviewing a rather unorthodox artist on a secret island to which only the crème de la crème has admittance. We discover that she’s in too deep when activity on the island takes a few bizarre turns toward what just may be Hell itself.

The story pulls you in and does not disappoint. Each character is rich in personality. The prose is smooth and gets out of your way. Eggplant now ranks high on my list of favorite books of all time.
Go read it!

[Michael Slembrouck · Rating 3 out of 5]

I liked it. Maybe more than a three star review might imply. The typos bothered me, but more it was just that it was like holding onto smoke. Tantalizing and intriguing smoke, but still your hand is left empty. Roger Ebert did a better job saying something similar once, I think. Maybe it was someone else.

I was compelled to read it even if I knew that I wasn’t going to be fully satisfied. I didn’t hate the ending, even though I usually hate endings like that. It’s like an early DeLillo written by the present day DeLillo.

[Augments · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read it in one sitting. Enjoyed it the whole time. Can't wait for the next Nesmer

[Thingol · Rating 5 out of 5]

I hate Eggplant, the vegetable. But Eggplant, the novel? Now THAT'S another story!