{image1}For someone who is about to embark on a rock and roll book tour, hearing "the greatest living American writer" Neal Pollack talk about his day sounds a lot like a country song. He just hobbled out of the emergency room in a knee brace because of a mishap that occurred the night before at a show with his band The Neal Pollack Invasion, and to make matters worse, his dog has an ear infection. But like a dedicated musician, he insists that the interview will go on.
"I'm going to do it for rock and roll," he assures.
So why is Pollack tearing the cartilage from his knee with a band and going on a rock and roll book tour? It is in support of his new novel, titled "Never Mind the Pollacks", which documents the exploits of the fictional Neal Pollack, a rebellious rock critic who documents nearly every event in the world of underground music. Throughout the novel, the fictional Pollack has Elvis play at his bar mitzvah, sleeps with Joan Baez, Lou Reed and Patti Smith and discovers Kurt Cobain.
The soundtrack of the novel, which shares the same title as the book and features his new band, contains 10 punk rock ditties such as "Do the Ostrich" and "I Wipe My Ass On Your Novel" (sample lyric: "Thank you Joyce Carol/for a year's worth of three-ply"), which will be familiar to fans of his earlier spoken word disc on Bloodshot Records.
The new album, which was recorded during a five hour break during the 2003 South by Southwest festival, parodies "the current pretentious garage rock and punk revivals while adhering to the true spirit of both those genres."
This seems like quite an undertaking considering that Pollack doesn't even consider himself an expert in the rock genre. To research the novel, he read a lot of biographies on the subject, such as Jim DeRogatis' book on Lester Bangs, "Let It Blurt," and Peter Guraknick's two volume writings on Elvis, "Last Train to Memphis" and "Careless Love."
"I would read one, which would lead into another," explains Pollack, "I know a lot of rock and roll books. Hopefully at the end of the tour, I think I will be a rock and roll expert."
Those who have already seen a Neal Pollack Invasion show knows he did a lot of research on the Sex Pistols. "They brought sucking to an art form," he avers.
Already known for his off-the-wall book readings, Pollack promises a "dumb, funny rock show," complete with jokes, nudity and spitting into the audience, a la Johnny Rotten.
"I can be a dips--t," he almost brags, "I get out of control. A night with me could turn stupid. Something always goes wrong."
Of course, now constricted by a leg brace, the shows will become a bit more subdued. Once known for having his fans bringing in other author's books for him to rip up at readings, all Pollack really wants to accomplish is to put some juice into the elitist literary culture.
"I'll destroy my own books, but there are too many people out there banning and burning books, it isn't really good manners to destroy other people's books."
Pollack got his start as a staff writer for the Chicago Reader, the city's primary alternative newspaper. "I covered Chicago politics and I read a lot of socially conscious journalism," he recalls, "I learned a lot about narrative." After many failed attempts to break into the world of magazine freelancing, Pollack started to write parodies of magazine journalism and read them on poetry nights.
Through some friends, Pollack met author Dave Eggers ("A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius"), who began publishing Pollack's work in his magazine McSweeney's. These articles were collected into the bestselling book "The Neal Pollack Anthology of American Literature."
Pollack then went from independent publishing poster boy to the critical darling of the big publishing world, signing with HarperCollins, and he harbors no regrets.
"I'll do it as long as I can do things my way."
In fact, Pollack doesn't find the world of big publishing nearly as sleazy as the world of music. "It's a lot easier for a writer not to get ripped off. It is kind, but it can be a lot more isolating," he says.
It's the touring aspect of music that Pollack wants to bring to literature in order to build a bridge between the author and the audience, and he feels he can help his cause by touring with The Neal Pollack Invasion. "It's something I love to do," he says, "I am able to meet more people and know the cities I am in a little better."
Another way Pollack keeps in communication with his fans is his frequently visited Web site, www.nealpollack.com, which claims to be, "The fair and balanced voice of the true American spirit."
"I can have a direct connection with my readers and build an audience from the ground up," he says. The site features parodies of Internet bloggers and stabs at the state of politics of the moment.
Once again, he sees these methods as a way to build bridges between the worlds of politics, music and literature.
"I think there is no reason music can be used politically," he says, "Popular music can provide the background for dissent ... With literary culture, it's the same thing. If literature can't be culturally integrated, why can writers be part of the culture?"
With all these different outlets for Pollack's voice to be heard, what keeps him inspired to push the envelope?
"A need to pay a mortgage," he answers. "My ambition will never run out, and my rampaging ego will crush everyone who gets in its way."
When readers first open "Never Mind the Pollacks," they might be surprised to see that the book is dedicated to two people named Jack and Meg, an obvious reference to The White Stripes, one of the rock bands that people think that Pollack finds pretentious. His feelings are quite the opposite actually.
"I think they are a great band," he says, "It's the New York bulls--t hipster bands like Interpol and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs that don't impress me."
So what do these bands lack then, Mr. Pollack?
"They need to have a good sense of humor, and be loud."
Sure beats leaving the stage in a leg brace.
The Neal Pollack Invasion will perform at Bremen Cafe on Sat., Oct. 18 at 9 p.m.
