You like weird, flaky storytelling that's even further out there then Barton Fink, Fargo and The Big Lebowski? Folks, I'm here to report Jim Krusoe out oddballs even The Coen Brothers.
Toward You takes its place as number three after Girl Factory and Erased in the author's trilogy about the relationship between this world and the next - and we're talking screwball doozy all the way.
"I'd been tinkering with the Communicator when I heard a short squeal of breaks outside my house and then a dull thud: the sound of a body being struck by a speeding car." So begins this tale set in a raunchy lower middle class neighborhood of St. Nils, small US city where half the men and women are unemployed and everyone spends their off hours eating, sleeping and watching TV.
Bob is the guy who hears the short squeal and dull thud. Bob opens his front door and witnesses the aftermath of the collision: the hit dog wobbles up his sidewalk and drops over dead. Bob reads the big brown dog's name on the oval nameplate of its thick leather collar: Bob.
Bob (the human) ponders what to do with Bob (the dog). Calling the city is out of the question on Thursday at five-thirty since city offices are now closed on Friday and with Columbus Day on Monday, the city wouldn't come by till at least Tuesday or even later. Dragging Bob the dead dog to his next door neighbor Farley's yard is also out - Farley works nights and he might be home looking out the window this very moment. Nope. Only one choice - drag Bob to his backyard and bury Bob under the anemic rosebush in need of fertilizer. "Bob would become the rosebush and the rosebush would become Bob."
After putting the finish touches on Bob's grave - making a grave marker by painting Bob over today's date over RIP in Old English lettering on a piece of scrap wood, Bob shares strokes of his backstory: an unsocial klutz in high school, flunked out of St. Niles Community College, enrolled in the Institute for Mind/Body Research where he 1) had a deeply emotional (for him) short-term relationship with fellow student Yvonne; and 2) began working on his Communicator so he could share messages back and forth with the dead. Saddened by Yvonne ending their relationship, he quit school and learned furniture upholstery, eventually starting his own business he named Bob's Upholstery. He continues to work on the Communicator in his spare time (no success yet but Bob senses he could have his first breakthrough).
And then it happens. The very next morning after burying the big brown dog, Bob's working on an antique chair when he hears someone knocking on his front door. Bob opens the door to see a woman and a young girl both with dark hair in pigtails, the woman's wearing a deerskin dress and moccasins and the girl in regular kid cloths and her arm wrapped in fresh gauze. Wouldn't you know it - the woman is none other than Yvonne and the girl, about age ten, is Dee Dee, her daughter.
Turns out, Yvonne is going door to door in her neighborhood (she lives a few blocks away) asking if anybody has seen a large dog that bit Dee Dee. More concerned with rekindling a romantic relationship than Dee Dee's health (possible contraction of rabies), Bob tells her 'no' but invites them in to share a cake he's baked. Hey, Bob! Why don't you tell the truth to possibly save a child's life? Nope. Bob is way too feckless and lonely to put Dee Dee ahead of himself.
Jim Krusoe frames his novel thusly where bizarre and weird lead to gobs more that's kooky, creepy, funky and freaky. Take a gander at a few clips that could be from the Toward You movie trailer -
Peeping Tom - Bob's feeling down, a real case of alienation from his true identity. To snap himself back into being his authentic self, Bob takes an evening walk. He comes upon Yvonne's house. One thing leads to another until Bob is up in a tree peering in at Yvonne brushing her teeth in the upstairs bathroom. Yvonne turns and stares out the window. Did she see him? Bob waits a few minutes before dropping down from the tree. Minutes later, wouldn't you know it - a policeman tells Bob, "We got a call about a prowler." Could be trouble, Bob.
Contacting the Dead - Bob constructs a homemade helmet out of egg cartons to better hear all those vibrations coming from the other side (the land of the afterlife). Bob starts hearing strange sounds. Are they the 'Terminal Waves' you're so keen to tap into, Bob? Still wearing his special helmet, Bob takes a stroll outside. Guess who spots him doing all this? Wouldn't you know it - the very same policeman. This could mean more trouble, Bob.
Voice from Beyond - "Does it surprise you that my best friend here is Bob? Well, Bob is my only friend." So speaks Dee Dee now that she's dead. And the Bob she's talking about is Bob the dog. By switching to Dee Dee from the beyond, Jim Krusoe adds more weirdness to his already bugged out tale.
I could add additional clips featuring that police officer, Dennis the psychopath (owner of Bob the dog) and next door neighbor Farley, but I'll stop here and say you'll have to read for yourself. Oh, if only the Coen Brothers would make a film of Toward You, it might be a box office smash, coining a new category - The Superweird.
American author Jim Krusoe, born 1943
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