Field Recordings

Facundo Raganato’s surrealistic novel, The Author or The Characters Short Living Story , from Harvard Square Editions is a metaphysical exploration of the meaning of life, and the trappings of reality. The Author is in the great tradition of Luigi Pirandello’s Six Characters in Search of an Author , an absurdist play where the characters seek meaning from their director, and question their reality. This kind of surrealistic philosophical romp plays well on stage. The one act play, “The Script” by Kamron Kiltgaard, another recent permutation of the same idea, features characters discovering the script of their lives (for that afternoon, anyway) and debating the philosophical ramifications. The Author begins in a similar way, when Henry, Violet, Leo, Kimberly, Joe, Lisa find themselves in a “spiritual Twilight Zone” with the clothes on their back, and few resources. They spend most of the novel coming to grips with who they are, debating, and navigating a fantastical world with no exit....