Frederik Boles, Author’s Agent Oct. 20 2200 Fifth Avenue New York, N. Y. Dear Fred,
This section of the story is a collection of letters sent back and forth between Jerome and his editor/publishers. Jerome has placed himself and his friends in this story using their real names. Sort of Charlie Kaufman like with his story Adaption. Meta-physically placing oneself and others from real life straight into a film or story of fiction.
Funny thing ... every time I read it over I get the doggonedest _déjà vu_ feeling. Real dynamic thing ... almost lifts my hair. Hope it does the same for the readers, them as can read.
The Deja Vu angle in the story throws the readers mind for a loop. Causing the reader to question their own experience with Deja Vu. An addition I feel is key to the story. Sort of like this masterpiece of film.
Ever stop to think how little we know about why we live? … what it is that takes our structure of bones and coldcuts and gives it the function we call “life?” Some mysterious life-substance or force the doctors haven’t pinned down yet, you say–and that’s as good a definition as any
Think about this. "Some mysterious life-substance or force that doctors haven't pinned down yet". Bixby subtly brings philosophical observations and questions to this story adding more for the reader to ponder. This section caught my attention immediately, triggering my mind to question that observation. What is our Life Force? Why do we just chalk it up (The Soul) as acceptable even though there is no tangible evidence? Is it energy transferred over thousands of years combusting within our meta-physical selves creating our life-force as we know it? OR IS IT?
“Well,” Joe said. “Let me make up a theory. H’m … hoo, hah … well, it’s like this: there are monsters all around us, see, but we don’t know they’re monsters except that every once in a while one of them slips up in his disguise and shows himself for what he really is. But this doesn’t bother our monsters. They simply reach into our minds and twiddle around and–zoop!–you’re right back where you were before the slip was–”
Cold-Blooded and a half. Telling the truth but hiding it behind the ridiculousness of his story. Now that's a monster. To me this is Joe's "Villain Monologue". A moment for the villain/protagonist to relish in his act of feeding off Jerry. As many, many villains do..
They aren’t killers, or rampaging monsters; quite the contrary. They need us, something like the way we’d need maple trees if it came to the point where maple syrup was our only food. That’s why we’re in no comic-book danger of being destroyed, any more than maple trees would be, in the circumstances I just mentioned–or are, as things go. In a sense, we’re rather well-treated and helped along a bit … the way we care for maple trees.
Instead of being an alien invasion or a cataclysmic event, these aliens have integrated into our society. Feeding off humanity's life source and manipulating the masses in their favor. We're just cattle, waiting for a methodical slaughter.
They’re all around us, living with us. We are hardly ever aware of their existence, because they can make themselves look like us, and do most of the time; and if they can look like us, there’s really no need for them to think like us, is there?
Jerome Bixby must enjoy this theme of being s living here on earth for thousands of years disguised amongst us because it is literally the entire plot of his latest work The Man from Earth was a screenplay he started in 1946. He completed the screenplay on his death bed in 1998. An idea he came up with prior to writing The Slizzers which shows how long this concept has been in his head. Giving us more understanding on Jerome Bixby.
Jerome Bixby
Jerome Bixby is a bad ass wordsmith of Science-Fiction. Creating stories featured in Star Trek, The Twilight Zone, and Fantastic Voyage.
Consider the links above.. You'll be glad you did.
you know, the old incompleted sentence deal ... just as if, while the narrator was finishing the story, the _slizzers_ came in and
Clever-ness Level over 9000. Throwing in these letters back and forth on how this story would fail is a brilliant addition by the author. Kind of a "flex" towards the readers and publishers. No matter what this story is written the way the author wants to write it. Getting final cut on his work that he believes is perfect the way it is, now that's an artist.
We played until 3 A. M. I won forty-six dollars. (I usually do win … I guess over a period of six months or so I’m about five-hundred bucks ahead of the game. Which is why I like to play over at Joe’s, even though I am always so damned tired when I leave. Guess I’m not as young as I was.)
"MESSAGE!" Draining your life force to obtain currency without realizing your life force is being drained. Be aware of your greed, don't let it consume your life force. The Bittersweet Symphony of Life.
“You know … that funny feeling that you’ve been some place before–the same place, the same people, saying the same things–but you can’t remember where the hell or when, for the life of you. Had it just a moment ago, when I told Joe he owed me fifteen bucks. What do they call it again?” “Déjà vu,” said Allen, who’s sort of the scholarly type. “Means ‘seen before’ in French, I think. Or something like that.”
The way Bixby ties in déjà vu to the story is incredible. Using it as the explanation to why we never remember a Slizzer when the Slizzer exposes their true self. The Slizzer just quickly reset your mind and you pick up back where you left off. Leaving you with the sense of déjà vu. Now reminding the reader about their déjà vu experiences and hopefully causing the reader to think of why they experience déjà vu.
(groceries and rent wait for no man, you know)
Facts.
Wet Blanket
A specific brand of "fucking lame"
The manuscript looks good in my wastebasket. Forget about it.
Uhh.. damn.
gonif
A dishonest person
“No,” Joe said sharply. “Too much at one time, and he’d wonder what hit him. We’ll do it just like always … one of us at a time, and only a little at a time. Get him when he rakes in the loot. They never miss it when they feel like that.”
The methodical approach to "Slizzing" humans is what should scare the reader. These monsters are all about manipulation and control. Calculated creatures with a goal..now that's a terrifying monster.
I saw long black hair growing on the insides of his lips.
Now this is something I want to see in a horror film. Long Black Hair seeping out of the mouth of a monster as it transforms. Solid Visual
avarice
Greed
duck-up
Duck is another word for 'Two' in poker lingo
So see how long that feeling lasts … and who is hanging around you at the time. Experiment. See if it doesn’t happen again and again with the same people, and if you don’t usually end up wondering where in hell your nice warm feeling went off to….
Apply this to everyday life. Observe your surroundings. Understand what works for you and what doesn't. Realize where your energy is going and figure out a way to conserve it. It's like the author is dropping subtle life lessons within the text.