Ever been a victim? Of course you have.
Of a schoolyard bully. A teacher seeking to set an
example. A lousy boss who makes subordinates pay for
his or her dumb ideas. A robber. A cheat. A petty
thief.
We've all been victims. It's life.
In the United States, our inalienable rights include
the pursuit of happiness, not happiness itself. That's
for us as individuals to achieve or fail.
The great majority of us get over being a victim.
Meaningful people are repulsed by the prospect of
joining the whiny ranks of perpetual victimhood, whose
members indenture themselves to the more accomplished
and powerful, real or imagined.
But what if?
"What if we actually had the opportunity to
confront our perpetrator 30 years after the fact?"
Said Robert Maniscalco. Closure? Or revenge?
Maniscalco offers an answer in his first novel, "The
Fishfly."
"My inanition in publishing this story is not
to capitalize on my, or others, misfortune,"
Maniscalco said. "My goal has been to express
something real and true, to create something that
reaches out to those who may benefit from my own experiences,
real and imagined. This is the goal of the artist."
Twenty years in the writing, Maniscalco says "Fishfly"
is the most personal thing he's created.
"It started as a compilation of unrelated stories
of my past," said Maniscalco, a multi-faceted
artist who lives in and has an art gallery in the
City of Grosse Pointe.
In addition to painting and writing, Maniscalco acts
and hosts Art Beat on Detroit Public
Television-PBS. He's also a fan of "Star Trek,"
according to frequent references to the science fiction
series in his stream-of-consciousness novel.
"The novel is about someone who finally, rather
than observing life, decides to live it." Maniscalco
said.
Why, after all these years, finish the book?
"I wanted to do it before my first baby came,"
he said, referring to Danny, born one year ago to
him and his wife, Amanda. "I figured my whole
life as I knew it would change. I wanted to get the
book to the publisher in advance of his being born."
Maniscalco said publication was a long shot.
"I didn't expect them to actually publish it,"
he said. "It represents a chapter in my own life.
It's based on some autobiographical and visual material."
The book cover is decorated with a self-portrait
Maniscalco completed about 25 years ago. The painting
is displayed in his gallery at 17728 Mack as part
of a book-related exhibit through March. An opening
reception, Images and Ideas is scheduled for Thursday,
Feb. 10, from 6-9 p.m.
"To find my voice as an artist, I did a number
of things that are still part of me," Maniscalco
said. "I haven't shown this work publicly in
my own gallery since it was made more than 20 years
ago."
He titled the self-portrait "Deliquescence,"
which means to melt from within.
It's such a lively sounding word, but it expresses
self destruction," Maniscalco said. "It's
a serf-portrait of me back when I was 20. It sort
of exemplifies what's going on with this character
self destructing."
These are paintings I did as part of the creative
process of writing the novel. "That's why I'm
having an exhibit through the end of March of this
work. The work represents many early experiments of
his early 20s.
"The Fishfly," a 172 page soft-cover published
by PublishAmerica, costs 16.95 at Maniscalco's gallery.
The book is listed on amazon.com for $19.95.
List
of Essays