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Bob Olster- Bob is currently working on the third revision of The Book of Not, as well as it’s continuation The Book of Hing. The previous editions of Not were made available for a very limited time. Only one-hundred books were made available in Boise, Seattle, Portland and Salt Lake City. The third revision will be made public. While going through a post production hell with NOT. Bob has informed us that I have to admit, just meeting Mr. Olster face to face was a delight in itself. I met Mr. Olster in the Basque district of Boise, Idaho, whilst he devoured a lamb sandwich. I shook his hand as he smecked at a lamb chunk that was falling from his thin lips. He began to rant to me about the state of the nation, his taste in easy women and his belief in personal hygiene. He then asked if I would please call him “Jesus”. I told him I absolutely would not! He then tried to feed me some story about it being his legitimate middle name, although he wouldn’t show me any proof. We then raced to Barber Park in his completely customized Scout, fully equipped with a canoe strapped to the top. We loaded the canoe into the river and jumped in. He continued his rants. I asked if he was influenced by William S. Burroughs. He explained that his inspiration for writing absolutely did not come from William S. Burroughs in any other way than in theory. I asked him what he meant by this as I watched him pop open a bottle of champagne and pull two crystal glasses from his side pocket. He offered me one, I declined and repeated my question. He began to explain “The ‘Cut-Up Method’ utilized by many of the BEAT writers of the 1960's. including Burroughs, as well as Bryon Gyson and Allen Ginsberg, is a technique and a art style all of its own. "These people may have been the innovators, but I am the one utilizing it now. Me! Bob Jesus Olster! " He added, “The last thing I would want is for someone to buy my book because people might say it’s like Burroughs work, this is absolutely nothing like Burroughs!!!" We reached the first drop off as he was pouring another glass of champagne. The crystal glass shattered up against the bottle and spread shards all about the bottom of the canoe. He laughed wildly and pulled the other glass I had previously turned down and filled it. He had already drank about two thirds of the bottle and was laying across the canoe as if it were a hammock. He explained how learning this method was one of the best things that could have happened to him. That he had been tortured for years trying to understand how his ADD (Attention Deficit Disorder) and his everyday thoughts and experiences could benefit him other than receiving EST or State Aid for his schizophrenia. He began experimenting back in 1990 with his first short stories, or what he refers to as his loosely based fictional autobiography. These stories, he explained, were written then stored away for later reference. It was at that time in 2003 that he began reviewing his stories and realized he had essentially written down his life in a subconscious form. He then decided to put them in order and send them to us. We here at T.A.O. read the manuscript cover to cover three times. At first we were thinking it might be a novel. It most certainly is not. There is most definitely a story, but if you are not used to reading metaphor blended with a heap of insanity this book may be a little harder for you to read. We loved it and published it for him immediately and commissioned him for another. Upon reaching Julia Davis Park in downtown Boise, there were a group of policemen waiting for us to dock. They arrested Bob on the spot for drinking on the river. I reached the Police Station just as he was paying his own bail and leaving. He began hitchhiking right there in front of the Police Station. As he stuck his thumb into traffic I asked, “So your book makes reference to serial murder, have you ever killed anyone?” He was jumping into the back of a red and white dodge pickup as he responded, “I have never killed anyone, except in my mind, that didn’t deserve it.” The truck drove off with a cloud of blue smoke. |
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